A United Nations demand for financial compensation for Israeli strikes on UN facilities in Gaza could come to $11 million, a government official in Jerusalem said Tuesday in response to a UN report that criticized Israel for the attacks. The incidents occurred during Operation Cast Lead in January.
The official said Israel would begin negotiations with the UN on this and other matters in the coming weeks.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accused Israel Tuesday of lying about attacks on the facilities, including one said to have killed more than 40 people outside a school compound, and formally demanded compensation. He said a UN investigation found conclusively that Israel was responsible for attacks on several schools, a health clinic and the organization’s Gaza headquarters. Some of the weapons used in these attacks contained white phosphorous, he added.
The report, which was presented to the Security Council Tuesday, accuses Israel of intentionally firing on the UN institutions and using excessive force.
Israel denies that it intentionally struck the compounds. It also says it was forced to act against militants using these buildings and other civilian facilities for cover. Witnesses said at the time that militants fired from the area near the school that was hit.
“The spirit of the report and its language are tendentious and entirely unbalanced and ignore the facts as they were presented to the commission,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The commission prefers the positions of Hamas, a murderous terror organization, and by doing so misleads the world public.”
The Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that Israel had waged an intensive campaign to keep the report from coming out.
Ban commended Israel for its cooperation and said there would be no further reports on the matter. He also noted in a letter attached to the report, at the Foreign Ministry’s request, that the five-member panel that conducted the investigation cannot make legal findings or consider questions of legal liability, and pointed out that Israeli citizens in the south faced and continue to face indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas and other groups.
However, the report itself did not discuss rocket fire or attacks on Israeli civilians. Israeli officials said it also failed to address the intelligence information Israel gave the committee, which they said showed that Hamas was using UN facilities as a base for terror operations.
Israel Defense Forces officials, who called the report biased, said it was too early to tell what its long-term impact would be.
A fire at the UN building in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes. Photograph: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty
5 May 2009
A United Nations inquiry today accused the Israeli military of “negligence or recklessness” in its conduct of the January war in Gaza and said the organisation should press claims for reparations for deaths and damage.
The first investigation into the three-week war by anyone other than human rights researchers and journalists held the Israeli government responsible in seven separate cases in which UN property was damaged and UN staff and other civilians were hurt or killed.
However, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, rejected the report’s call for a full and impartial investigation into the war, and refused to publish the complete 184-page report. Only Ban’s own summary of the report (pdf) has been released.
Israel rejected the inquiry’s findings, even before the summary was released, as “tendentious” and “patently biased”.
The board of inquiry, led by Ian Martin, a Briton who is a former head of Amnesty International and a former UN special envoy to East Timor and Nepal, had limited scope, looking only at cases of death, injury or damage involving UN property and staff. But its conclusions amount to a major challenge to Israel.
It found the Israeli military’s actions “involved varying degrees of negligence or recklessness”, and that the military took “inadequate” precautions towards UN premises. It said the deaths of civilians should be investigated under the rules of international humanitarian law.
The UN should take action “to seek accountability and pursue claims to secure reparation or reimbursement” for UN expenses and payments over deaths or injury to UN staff and damage to UN property where the responsibility lay with Israel, Hamas or any other party, the report added. In total, more than $11m worth of damage was caused to UN premises.
The inquiry looked in detail at nine incidents, in which several Palestinians died. It found the Israeli military responsible in seven cases where it had “breached the inviolability” of the UN. In one other case, Palestinian militants, probably from Hamas, were held responsible; in a final case, responsibility was unclear.
The report summary will now go to the UN security council. In a later press conference , Ban confirmed that he would be seeking no further official inquiry into the Gaza events. But he did say he would be looking for reparations from Israel on a “case-by-case” basis.
The secretary general was asked whether his decision not to publish the full report amounted to a watering down of the inquiry’s findings. He categorically denied the suggestion: the inquiry was independent, and he was powerless to edit its conclusions.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the Israeli military had already investigated its own conduct during the war and “proved beyond doubt” that it had not fired intentionally at UN buildings. It dismissed the UN inquiry.
“The state of Israel rejects the criticism in the committee’s summary report and determines that in both spirit and language the report is tendentious, patently biased and ignores the facts presented to the committee,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
It said the inquiry had “preferred the claims of Hamas, a murderous terror organisation, and by doing so has misled the world”.
The most serious incident investigated took place on 6 January, near a UN boys’ preparatory school in Jabaliya that was being used as a shelter for hundreds of Palestinians who had fled their homes to escape the fighting. The Israeli military had fired several 120mm mortar rounds in the “immediate vicinity” of the school, killing between 30 and 40 Palestinians, the inquiry found.
Although Israel at the time said Hamas had fired mortars from within the school, the inquiry found this as not true: there had been no firing from within the compound and there were no explosives in the school.
It held Israel responsible for the attack and said the deaths of civilians should be “assessed in accordance with … international humanitarian law.” It also called for a formal acknowledgement from Israel that its allegations about Palestinian militants being present in the school were untrue.
The other incidents investigated were:
29 December The headquarters of the UN political mission in Gaza was damaged when Israeli air strikes hit the presidential compound next door. Staff were on site, but were protected in a bunker and not injured. The inquiry held the Israeli government responsible for the damage.
5 January An Israeli air strike hit the UN Asma elementary school in Gaza City, where hundreds more Palestinians were sheltering. The missile killed three young men who had been walking to the bathroom in the school compound. The inquiry found no weapons or ammunition were being stored in the school, and that the men had been going to the toilet and not taking part in military activity. The attack was “an egregious breach of the inviolability of the United Nations premises”, the inquiry said, again holding Israel responsible for the deaths and damage.
6 January An Israeli air strike damaged the UN Bureij health centre, injuring nine people. The inquiry said the air strike had targeted and destroyed an apartment opposite the centre. It held Israel responsible for the damage to the health centre, and noted that the UN had been given no advance warning of the attack.
8 January Israeli soldiers fired at a UN convoy, damaging one of the vehicles in Ezbet Abed Rabou. The marked convoy, flying a UN flag, had been cleared by the Israeli military to travel out to pick up the dead body of a UN staff member.
15 January The UN’s main headquarters in Gaza was badly damaged when it was hit by several Israeli artillery shells, including some containing white phosphorus. The shelling continued despite warnings from the UN to the Israeli military, and fires caused serious damage to the UN warehouse. Three people were injured. The inquiry held Israel responsible and said the Israeli military had a “particularly high degree of responsibility” to ensure the safety of the UN headquarters.
17 January Israeli 155mm artillery loaded with white phosphorus exploded early in the morning above the UN Beit Lahiya elementary school, where nearly 2,000 Palestinians were sheltering from the fighting. Two children, aged five and seven, were killed inside a classroom and their mother and cousin were seriously injured by shards of shell casings. Eleven others were also hurt. The inquiry held Israel responsible for the deaths, injuries and damage.
In one other case, damage worth around $29,000 was caused to a World Food Programme warehouse by a Palestinian militant group, probably Hamas. In the last case, a UN guard outside the gate of a UN girls’ preparatory school in Khan Younis was killed on 29 December by shrapnel. The inquiry was unable to determine who was responsible.
In this series of personal testimonies, PCHR looks at the aftermath of Israel’s 23 day offensive on the Gaza Strip, and the ongoing impact it is having on the civilian population.
Mahmoud before and after the attack that claimed his sight
Mahmoud Mattar spent his 15th birthday in February this year, lying in the intensive care unit of Egypt’s Sheikh Zayid hospital. He is one of the 1,606 children who were injured during Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, some of who sustained horrific disabilities, head and spinal injuries, facial disfigurement, burns and amputation.
On Wednesday 7 January 2009, Mahmoud Mattar, then 14, was struck by a rocket near his home in Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City, that left him permanently blind and with extensive injuries. It was around 09:30 in the morning and Mahmoud was at home with his mother and siblings when an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at al-Taqwa mosque, 150 metres away.
Mahmoud ran to see what had happened, and shortly afterwards a second missile hit the scene, killing two 15 year old boys, including Abdullah Juda, one of Mahmoud’s school friends. Mahmoud’s uncle, Nahed Mattar, 43, went to find his nephew while people gathered in the area.
Just as Nahed reached out to grab Mahmoud, a third rocket hit. “I had gone to find Mahmoud and bring him home,” said Nahed. “I saw the two boys who had been killed and their bodies were dismembered. People were trying to evacuate them because ambulances were unable to reach the area and the mosque had been destroyed, with just a minaret left standing.:
As Nahed reached out for Mahmoud’s hand, a rocket landed just a metre and a half away from his nephew: “I was injured in the head and Mahmoud was thrown unconscious. His face was in a terrible shape – it has only improved now after numerous operations – and there were shrapnel injuries all over his body.”
The last thing Mahmoud remembers that day was his uncle was beside him: “I told my uncle something was going to hit us. I couldn’t see the missile but I could feel something was going to happen. I made my ‘shahaadah’ [Muslim declaration of faith before death] and was about to take a step forward. I don’t remember anything after that.”
Mahmoud’s eyes were burnt, and his facial bones were fractured. His lower jaw was broken, he lost some of his teeth, and had shrapnel injuries and third degree burns throughout his body.
Mahmoud was transferred to Gaza City’s Shifa hospital where the seriousness of his condition meant transfer to hospital in Egypt was essential. But later that same day, 7 January 2009, an ambulance convoy belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, was fired upon traveling south of Gaza City, so Mahmoud had to wait until the 10 of January before he could be transferred. In Egypt Mahmoud endured numerous operations to reconstruct his face and bone transplants. He also suffered lung damage due to smoke inhalation and his breathing is now laboured.
Mahmoud spent a total of three months and ten days in hospital in Egypt, including one month in the intensive care unit of Sheikh Zayid hospital, and two months in Cairo’s Palestine hospital. He returned to the Gaza Strip in late April 2009 and is now trying to adapt to his new circumstances. Mahmoud’s father is unemployed and has health problems and the school for the blind in Gaza normally only accepts younger children. His family is now trying to arrange special dispensation so Mahmoud can continue his education.
“Mahmoud was very active in school and loved sports”, says his mother Randa Mattar, aged 36. “He loved gymnastics, especially in the sea. My son is the same person he was before.”
“The only different thing with me is that life is blind now,” adds Mahmoud, as he playfights with his younger brothers. “Sounds are much louder to me now. Now if an ant walks by, I hear it.”
The prospect of lifelong care for severely injured children who survived Israeli attacks is too much to bear for Gazan families already vulnerable after two years of border closures, 42 years of military occupation, and rising poverty levels.
While some of the costs of Mahmoud’s hospitalization were covered by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, he needs more follow up care and support and the ability to travel for further treatment.
“Mahmoud also needs cosmetic surgery and to be fitted with glass eyes,” explains Nahed, who stayed with his nephew for the duration of his time in Egypt and has developed a very close bond with him. “We will have to find the money to pay for that ourselves, somehow.”
An Israeli medical human rights group said today that an increasing number of Palestinian patients from Gaza were being interrogated by Israeli security services before being allowed to leave the strip for treatment.
It took evidence from several patients and found they were “forced to provide information as a precondition to exit Gaza for medical care”. The group said the ratio of applicants being interrogated rose from 1.45% in January last year to 17% in January this year. Their research also suggested the number of interrogations increased sharply from the beginning of this year, after Israel’s three-week war in Gaza.
One unnamed patient, who had been referred for orthopaedic treatment to a hospital in east Jerusalem, told the group that as he was trying to leave Gaza he was asked to give information on the people in his neighbourhood and was asked if he knew any Hamas members.
When he refused to give any information, he said his interrogator replied: “I understand that you don’t want to answer me and that you don’t want to work with us, so go back to Gaza.”
Another patient, who was trying to reach a hospital in east Jerusalem, said he was asked: “If you tell me which members of your family belong to the Hamas and which to the Islamic Jihad, I’ll let you leave Gaza for the hospital.” When he refused, he was told he would be sent back to Gaza.
The group said that patients were photographed by the security services holding a card with their name and identity card number on it, sometimes by coercion.
Others described being insulted during the questioning and being locked up at the crossing, sometimes for several hours without explanation.
Physicians for Human Rights said it took on average six to eight hours for each patient to cross. The group said it believed the Israeli security services were violating international laws on torture and coercion.
“PHR-Israel reiterates its claim that the way in which the GSS [general security service] is exploiting patients’ medical conditions by exerting pressure on them, be it overt or hidden, constitutes coercion prohibited under the fourth Geneva convention,” it said.
“The exacerbation of the situation is the outcome of failure of public bodies in Israel to take effective steps to restrain the GSS.” It was to present its findings to the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government, rejected the allegations. He said: “The idea that there is a conditionality that people who come into Israel for medical treatment must provide intelligence co-operation is simply untrue.”
He said 13,000 Palestinians from Gaza were allowed into Israel last year for medical treatment and said they had to go through “legitimate” security checks.
Thousands of Palestinians, mainly supporters of the 3 main Palestinian leftist parties (PFLP, DFLP, PPP) gathered in Gaza City for the Workers Day demonstration, which was celebrated this year on Thursday the 30th of April because of the holiday on Friday. Many children and young men participated, but almost no women. The supporters of the 3 different parties were marching all together, without forming separate blocks, giving a clear sign of unity of the left and of the Palestinians in general.
Because of the siege imposed by Israel and Egypt, Palestinians are forced to dig tunnels in order to cross the borders to Egypt and bring the necessary food, fuel and other goods in Gaza Strip. Tens of workers have been killed in the tunnels by accidents, or Egyptian and Israeli attacks.
Work in the tunnels is one of the few job opportunities in Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce in Gaza the unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip have reached 65%, and that poverty rates are now 80%, due to the ongoing Israeli-led siege and repeated assaults. The number of unemployed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is about 200,000.
Also, according to Ma’an news agency: “Israeli authorities announced tighter restrictions for Palestinians working in Israel on Labour Day Friday, including the possible revocation of permits if the holder returns to the West Bank after curfew. The restrictions come as Israel installs new computer systems at 13 military checkpoints between the West Bank, Israel and Jerusalem. Palestinians will no longer be able to enter Israeli controlled areas by points other than those outfitted with computers. According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics 74,000 Palestinians work in Israel, about three-quarters of who are from the West Bank. The working permits of many West Bankers stipulate that its holder must leave Israel before six or eight oclock.
Under the new system limits and parameters of permits for many Palestinians will change, and for some who arrive at the checkpoints later than the time stamped on their permits, papers may revoked for a week or even permanently. Many permit holders expect the new system will limit further Palestinian access to the western side of the separation wall. Israeli authorities have been vague on details of the new systems, but have instructed all Palestinians with permits to enter Israeli-controlled areas to register in the new system. The controls are being overseen by Israeli General of the Central Command Ghadi Chamani and the head of the Civil Administration in the West Bank, Yoav Mordechai.”
