Of je een VN-onderzoek naar schade aan VN-gebouwen tijdens de Gaza Oorlog onafhankelijk kunt noemen - zoals het NOS Journaal deed - is nog maar de vraag. Zeker als ze de schade willen verhalen op de verantwoordelijken, lijkt het aantrekkelijker om naar Israel te wijzen dan naar Hamas.
Wat betreft de VN school in Jabaliya zegt het VN rapport:
In one incident, the IDF fired 122mm mortar rounds into the immediate vicinity of the Jabaliya school on January 6, killing 30 to 40 Palestinians, the investigators found. The site was the refuge of hundreds of Palestinians who had fled the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"The board found that the undisputed cause of the injuries and the deaths to persons in the immediate vicinity of the school was the firing of 122mm mortar rounds by the IDF, which landed in the area outside the school and at the compound of a family home nearby," the report said.
The IDF claimed Hamas had used the school to fire missiles against Israel. But the board said "there was no firing from within the compound and (it found) no explosives within the school."
Het onderzoek van het Israelische leger zegt hierover:
The incident occurred near the UNRWA school ("Fahoura" School) in Jabaliya on January 6th, 2009. Hamas operatives used a site located only 80 meters away from the school to launch mortar shells at IDF forces. The shells exploded next to an IDF force operating in the area, and represented a grave threat to the soldiers. The previous day thirty IDF soldiers were wounded by Hamas mortar fire. The mortar fire presented a very significant threat to the lives of IDF forces.
Following a confirmed and cross-referenced identification of the source of the fire, the soldiers under attack responded with minimal and proportionate retaliatory fire, using the most precise weapon available to them, with the purpose of stopping the Hamas fire. The return fire hit the Hamas operatives who were firing the mortars and stopped their fire. All of the shells fired by the force landed outside of the school grounds (contrary to claims made by Hamas). Sadly, due to the fact that Hamas was firing from a populated area, the return fire also resulted in unintentional harm to civilians in the vicinity.
Despite the fact that the incident took place outside the UNRWA school grounds, Hamas was quick to accuse Israel of intentionally hitting the UN Facility. The investigation showed unequivocally that those claims were false. This was reinforced by the UN in a press release published subsequent to the operation. Additionally, the investigation showed that a cell of five terror operatives and seven civilians outside of the school grounds were hit, contrary to the 42 deaths that were reported by Hamas inside the school grounds.
Following a confirmed and cross-referenced identification of the source of the fire, the soldiers under attack responded with minimal and proportionate retaliatory fire, using the most precise weapon available to them, with the purpose of stopping the Hamas fire. The return fire hit the Hamas operatives who were firing the mortars and stopped their fire. All of the shells fired by the force landed outside of the school grounds (contrary to claims made by Hamas). Sadly, due to the fact that Hamas was firing from a populated area, the return fire also resulted in unintentional harm to civilians in the vicinity.
Despite the fact that the incident took place outside the UNRWA school grounds, Hamas was quick to accuse Israel of intentionally hitting the UN Facility. The investigation showed unequivocally that those claims were false. This was reinforced by the UN in a press release published subsequent to the operation. Additionally, the investigation showed that a cell of five terror operatives and seven civilians outside of the school grounds were hit, contrary to the 42 deaths that were reported by Hamas inside the school grounds.
Je zou zeggen dat het uit te maken moet zijn wie er hier liegt en wie de waarheid spreekt, maar wie is in de positie om dat te bepalen?
Het leger heeft meer informatie tot zijn beschikking, maar heeft natuurlijk ook een belang bij een positieve uitkomst. De Verenigde Naties is echter ook allesbehalve objectief waar het Israel en de Palestijnen betreft.
RP
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Last update - 21:50 07/05/2009
UN Security Council fails to agree on procedures for Gaza debate
By DPA
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083963.html
UN Security Council fails to agree on procedures for Gaza debate
By DPA
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083963.html
The United Nations Security Council failed on Thursday to agree on the procedures for a debate on the controversial investigation that held Israel accountable for causing deaths of Palestinians and the destruction of UN compounds in the Gaza Strip.
A summary of the 184-page report by an independent, three-member board was provided to the 15-nation council on Tuesday. But the board members were given no legal and court of law obligations to pursue their work and the report itself was labeled as an internal UN document.
Council president, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, said council members discussed "the modality of possible handling by the Security Council of the summary."
"We have not reached an agreement on the subject," he told reporters. He said he would discuss further "if and how" the council should take up the summary.
"We have not reached an agreement on the subject," he told reporters. He said he would discuss further "if and how" the council should take up the summary.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon commissioned the investigation to determine the truth relating to accusations that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were responsible for the destruction of UN-run schools and compounds in Gaza and the deaths of dozens of Palestinians.
President Shimon Peres, who visited UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday and held talks with Ban, called the report "outrageous," "unfair" and "one-sided." Peres said his government rejected the report, but did not consider Ban responsible for it.
Peres said, however, that an Israeli team would discuss with UN officials compensation for the destruction, which the UN estimated at 11 million dollars.
Ban supported the board's findings, but said the report was an internal UN document, closing the doors to further discussion.
The report said the IDF was responsible for six of nine serious incidents during the conflict with Hamas in December and January.
In one incident, the IDF fired 122mm mortar rounds into the immediate vicinity of the Jabaliya school on January 6, killing 30 to 40 Palestinians, the investigators found. The site was the refuge of hundreds of Palestinians who had fled the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"The board found that the undisputed cause of the injuries and the deaths to persons in the immediate vicinity of the school was the firing of 122mm mortar rounds by the IDF, which landed in the area outside the school and at the compound of a family home nearby," the report said.
The IDF claimed Hamas had used the school to fire missiles against Israel. But the board said "there was no firing from within the compound and (it found) no explosives within the school."
The report said the IDF had been given GPS coordinates of the Jabaliya school, which was among the 91 shelters that had been communicated to the IDF before it launched Operation Cast Lead against Hamas militias in Gaza.
"In six of the nine incidents, the board concluded that the death, injuries and damage involved were caused by military actions, using munitions launched or dropped from the air or fired from the ground, by the Israel Defense Forces," the investigators found.
The board said it found "undisputed cause" that IDF activities had caused damage and deaths to the Asma school, the Jabaliya school, the Bureij health center, a field office compound, the Beit Lahia school and a UN compound. The schools and field office were run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees.
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