Gaza: UN compound shelled, investigation needed
Amnesty International is calling for an immediate and independent investigation into the Israeli Army's shelling yesterday of a United Nations compound in Gaza City, disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid to Gaza's beleaguered civilians and injuring three UN workers.
The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) has reported that shells - apparently containing white phosphorous - struck their compound in Gaza City, injuring three people and setting on fire one building which contained emergency humanitarian assistance. UNRWA said that it had repeatedly asked the Israeli army not to fire in the vicinity of the compound.
"The attack on UNRWA, apparently targeting a clearly identified humanitarian compound, underscores the need for an impartial and thorough investigation into a range of attacks in which civilians were killed or injured and civilian buildings and infrastructure were destroyed," said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.
"Amnesty International is particularly worried about Israel’s use of what seems to be white phosphorus, a substance that causes severe burns when it comes into contact with skin. Although not banned under international law, white phosphorus is an incendiary weapon which should never be used in densely-populated civilian areas due to its devastating effects."
According to UN officials, at least 700 people remain in the compound seeking shelter while fighting continues. UNRWA said that the attack had prevented its trucks leaving the compound to distribute urgently needed food and medical supplies.
"International law unequivocally forbids attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance mission," said Malcolm Smart. "Deliberate attacks on humanitarian assistance facilities or personnel may constitute a war crime."
Comments
Sandy | Posted on 24 January 2009, 01:36PM | Report comment
http://www.memritv.org/video.html
word for word…from their own mouths
Terry Spek | Posted on 23 January 2009, 01:54PM | Report comment
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/irans-the-winner-if-ceasefire-fails/2009/01/22/1232471493833.html?page=2
Word for word
Terry Spek | Posted on 23 January 2009, 01:52PM | Report comment
Interesting how Steves opinion are remarkably similar to that of a DR Colin Rubenstein…
Terry Spek | Posted on 23 January 2009, 12:58PM | Report comment
Copy - Paste, Steve?
Your point? IDF are exempt from international law? The UN compound was really a nest of terrorists? Thats starting to sound like some of the muslum extremists in Africa who claim WHO vaccinations are sterilising there population.
Steve Lieblich | Posted on 23 January 2009, 12:43PM | Report comment
Check http://jiw.blogspot.com/search?q=al+qiq for soem light reading about the credibility of UNRWA
Steve Lieblich | Posted on 23 January 2009, 12:40PM | Report comment
Claims that the attacks are in response to Israel’s internationally backed blockade are specious. The blockade did not begin after Hamas was elected in 2006, but was only imposed after Hamas ejected the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and Fatah from Gaza in a violent June 2007 coup.
Israel and the international community offered to lift the blockade as soon as Hamas recognised Israel’s right to exist, renounced violence, and accepted previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements. Hardly onerous requirements for entry to a peace process; but by studiously refusing to do any of the three, even after Israel quit Gaza, Hamas has demonstrated - yet again - that its true objection is Israel’s existence. But that’s not a surprise, since its charter calls for the destruction of Israel and extermination of Jews, and Hamas’s leadership repeatedly reaffirms those goals in both words and deeds.
Terry Spek | Posted on 23 January 2009, 12:23PM | Report comment
In direct response to “How can you be so sure that there weren’t terrorists firing from that compound? “
I have no reason to belive the United Nations would publicly denounce the attacks without good reason.
There are rules of war which clearly dictate whom is and is not a valid target, and the IDF know this. Just because Hamas ignore basic human dignity does not mean the IDF should indescriminately target civillians just on the off chance that they are Hamas.
Unless your suggesting the 700 odd people in the compund were all Hamas? If so where is the proof?
Terry Spek | Posted on 23 January 2009, 11:45AM | Report comment
Do you think the palestinian children had a choice to be in the line of fire? The region was blockaded. Criticisims against IDF for refusing to allow inocent civillians from leaving a conflict zone, using weapons of mass destruction in heavily populated civillian zones and indescriminately targeting Aid workers are entirely valid, and frankly I find it shocking that you would think otherwise.
If the IDF can prove those allegations to be false, then I will be very happy that at least on side of the conflict has an inch of respect for human life, but blindly refusing to even entertain the thought that the IDF could have done a better job of protecting human rights is sheer ignorance.
Terry Spek | Posted on 23 January 2009, 11:45AM | Report comment
Because, Sandy, every article you have posted on about the IDF you ignore the article and instead post about how bad Hamas are.
YOU are the one that posts like your trying to justify actions like using white phosphouros against civilians and killing aid workers.
If as you say, you don’t accept the allegations against IDF then say so and move along.
You never even denied the allegations, and instead posted again and again about how “unfair” it is for amnesty to even make such alegations because “Hamas’s objective is to destroy Israel and kill Jews.”
Amnesty International rightly aserts that regardles of Hama’s evil intentions, there is NO, read that ZERO, justification for inflicting human rights abuses on innocent civillians.
Sandy | Posted on 23 January 2009, 11:28AM | Report comment
See http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3660423,00.html for some updates on the casualty figures. If Hamas is prepared to target civilians, kill its own civilians and torture and murder their political opponents, why should we accept their fictions about “IDF human rights violations”?
Sandy | Posted on 23 January 2009, 11:26AM | Report comment
Terry,
WHY?? Why should I “post something on how bad it is for the IDF to also blatanly breach human rights” when I’m not at all convinced that they have. This isn’t a ping pong match. When one party is blatantly wrong, glorifies death, kills its own and others, I have no need to “balance” the scales by denigrating their victim.
As for “shelling a UN compound” ...remember that UNRWA is a bloated agency with 30,000 staff,most of them Palestinians and MANY OF THEM TERRORISTS like the UN-school headmaster, al-Qiq who drew a UN salary during the day, and moonlighted as an Islamic Jihad bombmaker at night (discovered last May).
We know that “Pallywood” dreams up casualty figures and publishes fictional stories of “human rights violations” like the so-called “Jenin massacre of 1,500 innocents that turned out to actually be 54 deaths, almost all terrorist gunmen…
How can you be so sure that there weren’t terrorists firing from that compound?
Terry Spek | Posted on 23 January 2009, 10:37AM | Report comment
Yes we get it, Hamas are bad, they blatantly disregard basic human rights to further there agenda. Now since you have ellequently convinced everyone of something we were never disagreeing with perhaps you can post something on how bad it is for the IDF to also blatanly breach human rights by shelling a UN compound that was housing refugees and aid workers?
Sandy | Posted on 23 January 2009, 12:36AM | Report comment
Hamas’s objective is to destroy Israel and kill Jews. Check their charter at http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
Excerpts:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it”
“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews)...”
“I swear by the holder of Mohammed’s soul that I would like to invade and be killed for the sake of Allah, then invade and be killed, and then invade again and be killed.”
...is this an organisation that Israel can negotiate with? negotiate what? ...it’s own suicide?
Terry Spek | Posted on 22 January 2009, 03:52PM | Report comment
The people of Gaza pleaded with israel to allow trade to flow into the region so they could build an economy… If you think blockading a country is going to help it wean itself off a dependancy on aid then you know as much about economic models as israel does of international law.
Sandy | Posted on 22 January 2009, 10:35AM | Report comment
Terry, of course it must be Israel’s fault, right? WHY??? Israel left Gaza completely, but the Palestinians build a society dedicated to terror and “aid” instead of building a real economy.
Palestinian terrorists were hijacking aeroplanes and murdering civilians BEFORE Israel “occupied” the West Bank and Jordan.
In fact Arabs started attacking civilian Jews in the 1920s, BEFORE the state of Israel even existed.
Do you think that Israel causes tsunamis too?
Terry Spek | Posted on 21 January 2009, 03:58PM | Report comment
Aid would not have been required had Israel listened to the international community and opened up the gaza borders.
The situation you describe Steve is largely a result of the Israeli governments own actions.
Steve Lieblich | Posted on 20 January 2009, 05:51PM | Report comment
Since Hamas has gained control of Gaza in its bloody coup it has reduced Gaza to an entity dedicated to just two industries:
FIRST: terrorism: funded, armed, trained and commanded by Iran.
SECOND: “humanitarian” aid: funded by the US and Europe, and administered by UNRWA, a UN agency, headquartered in Gaza and staffed by almost 30,000 Gazan Palestinians …many of them terrorists (like the headmaster and science teacher at an UNRWA school, who “moonlighted” as an Islamic-Jihad bomb-maker, until he was killed by Israeli forces last May).
Regardless of any humane intentions, UNRWA officials have become de facto enablers and protectors of Hamas’ terrorism. By demanding more and more aid, vilifying Israel and promoting the interests of Hamas, they prolong the conflict and the suffering of everyone in the region, including the Palestinians who they are supposed to help.