IDF Response to Amnesty Report

From: IMRA
Communicated by the IDF Spokesperson
2 July 2009

We find it both questionable and objectionable that a well-respected (?) and
ostensibly objective international organization such as Amnesty could
produce a report on Operation Cast Lead without properly recognizing the
unbearable reality of nine years of incessant and indiscriminate rocket fire
on the citizens of Israel. The slant of their report indicates that the
organization succumbed to the manipulations of the Hamas terror
organization.

Operation Cast Lead was a result of nine years of Hamas' unrelenting Kassam,
Grad and mortar shell fire on more than a quarter of a million of Israel's
citizens. Rocket fire was Hamas' preferred terror tactic, and they
ruthlessly used populated areas of the Gaza Strip in order to carry out
their attacks.

We did not find in the report a proper reference to the reality of the
Israeli home front or to Israeli security concerns, and therefore the report
seems unbalanced. It presents a distorted view of the laws of war that does
not comply with the rules implemented by democratic states battling terror.

It also ignores the efforts of the IDF to minimize as much as possible
harming uninvolved noncombatant civilians. During Operation Cast Lead, the
IDF utilized various fighting methods and advanced technology to minimize
harm to the civilian population, while engaging terrorists who were
operating from densely populated areas and using the local population as a
"human shield."

In many cases, areas in which strikes of legitimate targets were to take
place, as required by international law, the IDF warned the local population
prior to the attack, via leaflets, radio broadcasts, and direct calls to
private cellular telephones. It should be stated that the IDF only targeted
military targets and avoided harming civilians, sometimes to the detriment
of its own military interests.

In addition, during Operation Cast Lead, the IDF enabled for the transfer of
humanitarian aid and also instated a daily several hour cease fire so that
the goods could be safely distributed.

The Amnesty report ignores a critical aspect of Operation Cast Lead - Hamas
consistently, deliberately and routinely violated International Law,
specifically the prohibition against the use of "human shields." While Hamas
was using Palestinian civilian centers to fire rockets at the citizens of
Israel, the IDF went to great lengths to combat their terrorism while
maintaining a firm commitment to the laws of war.

Documented evidence, from aerial drones, ground footage and independent
accounts, prove, beyond all doubt, that Hamas deliberately exploited
population centers - including medical, educational, recreational and
religious facilities - to provide tactical cover for their terror
activities.

It is to Amnesty International's discredit that the report they issued,
focuses so intently on any and all IDF infractions, and ignores the blatant
violations of international law perpetrated by Hamas.

Out of a professional, ethical and judicial obligation to thoroughly inspect
certain claims made regarding Operation Cast Lead, the IDF conducted a
number of investigations following the operation. The investigations proved
that the IDF operated throughout the fighting in accordance with
international law, maintaining high ethical and professional standards and
in many incidents, for the sake of avoiding harm to unassociated civilians,
even limited itself beyond existing judicial obligations. Nonetheless, the
investigations found a few, unfortunate incidents that are unavoidable
during combat - especially the type of combat Hamas forced upon the IDF
during Operation Cast Lead, when it chose to fight from within civilian
population centers.

In addition to the investigations ordered by the Chief of the General Staff,
Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the IDF is currently looking into complaints that
were received from various sources - private lawyers, human rights
organizations (including Amnesty) and media outlets (both domestic and
international) - that raise different questions regarding the way in which
the IDF operated during Operation Cast Lead. In certain cases, the Chief
Military Advocate has already ordered the opening of a criminal
investigation.

See Dr.Gerald Steinberg debates Amnesty International below or click here