'A new report by the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem confirmed that "well over half" of nearly 1,400 Palestinians killed in the Gaza war were civilians, including 252 children under the age of 16.
Below is an article from the Washington Post.
B'Tselem's press report can be found here.
Israeli study: Civilians majority of Gaza war dead
By KARIN LAUB
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 6:30 AM
JERUSALEM -- Well over half of nearly 1,400 Palestinians killed in Israel's Gaza war were civilians, including 252 children younger than 16, a leading Israeli human rights groups said Wednesday, challenging Israel's claim that most of the dead were militants.
Determining the number of civilian casualties is seen as key in the ongoing debate over whether Israel, along with Hamas, violated the rules of war in its three-week offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers last winter.
International human rights groups have said they suspect both sides committed war crimes - Israel by using disproportionate force in crowded Gaza, and Hamas by hiding behind civilians and indiscriminately firing rockets at Israeli towns.
The Israeli rights group B'Tselem on Wednesday published figures it said were compiled in months of research, including visits to families of victims. It said 1,387 Gazans were killed, including 773 civilians and 330 combatants. Thirteen Israelis also died, including four civilians.
The high number of Palestinian civilian deaths should compel the Israeli government to launch an independent investigation, the group said, adding that it considers the army's internal probe as flawed.
The military has acknowledged "rare mishaps" in its conduct during the war, but has denied it violated international humanitarian law. Israel refuses to cooperate with a U.N. war crimes investigation, alleging bias.
B'Tselem wrote that "the extremely heavy civilian casualties and the massive damage to civilian property require serious introspection on the part of Israeli society."
The military has put the Gaza death toll at 1,166, including 709 combatants and 295 civilians, but has refused to release a list of names or other evidence. The military said Wednesday that it believes B'Tselem's findings are based on flawed research, including reliance on what it said are exaggerated death tolls by Palestinian human rights groups.
Two Palestinian human rights groups have put the Gaza death toll at just over 1,400 and - like B'Tselem - released lists of names.
One explanation for some of the discrepancies between the army's figures and those of the human rights researchers is the definition of who is a combatant.
In defining combatants, B'Tselem included militants who are generally involved in fighting, even if at the moment of attack they are not taking part in hostilities.
The Israeli military appears to have used a more sweeping definition. During the war, Israeli officials said anyone involved with Hamas should consider himself a target.
B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said researchers focused on civilians, particularly children and minors.
B'Tselem noted that 248 Palestinian police officers were killed while at their stations, most in surprise air strikes on the first day of the war. The group said it placed them in a separate category - neither combatant nor civilians - because their status could not be determined. The military counted them as combatants.
A key difference was found in the number of deaths of children under 16 - B'Tselem said it documented 252 deaths, while the military said it knew of 89 children killed in the war.
B'Tselem said the group's researchers visited homes and collected photos, death certificates and other documents relating to all those deaths. In all, 320 Gazans under 18, all of them noncombatants, were among the dead, B'Tselem said. In addition, 19 minors were counted as combatants.
Michaeli said B'Tselem could only dispatch two Gaza field workers since the military prevented outsiders, including Arabic-speaking researchers from Israel, from entering the territory.
In addition to its report, B'Tselem has sent details of about 20 cases with alleged violations of the law to Israel's military prosecutor. Suspicions include firing on civilians or using them as human shields, B'Tselem said.
B'Tselem noted that the military withheld details that would have enabled the group to cross-check information. The discrepancy between the army's figures and those of B'Tselem is "particularly blatant concerning minors," the group said.
1 comments:
There has got to be a better way for both sides. As we spoke in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, it is a brave new world. Perhaps now it is time for the Palestinian movement to try the non-violent path again. I am not convinced that they ever did, really. But I admit to not being an expert on the Palestinian "peace movement." Communications is so different than in the fifties.
Israel, I believe, and all Jews, have the right to a certain level of paranoia, even a responsibility. As our host in Bet Shahur said, "They are very powerful." Rockets give them excuses to use that power. Criminal charges against individual soldiers, political leaders and the like may have some affect, but unleashing armies causes the death of innocents. Rocketing another country sets off armies regardless of criminal sanctions. Armies smash and break things for a specific reason. Stop the rockets. Eliminate the excuse to unleash the army. Find a peaceful, honorable way. I don't know.
As for religious zealots... they are on both sides. That is an in-house problem. Arabs have to deal with their zealots and Israel has to deal with hers. If Arabs try to deal with Jewish zealots and visa versa then the zealots win. That is playing into their hands. Step number one is that ALL nations currently calling for the destruction of Israel need to renounce that position publicly and legally. There should be no conditions on this. NONE. Whether they agree on the boundaries or not, they must renounce previous positions. No Arabic, Muslim nation has the right to invade Israel because it thinks Israel should not exist. If we can truly reach that point... only then will the State of Israel be able to deal with its zealots. Only then will Palestinians be able to deal with theirs.
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