Conclusies van bloedbad Beit Hanoun in november 2006

De inslag van een Israëlisch projectiel in twee woonhuizen in Beit Hanoun in de Gazastrook, leidde eind 2006 tot 21 Palestijnse burgerdoden, waaronder veel vrouwen en kinderen. Het leidde tot grote krantekoppen wereldwijd over dit bloedbad, met foto's van een bloeddoordrenkte steeg, en ook tot internationale veroordelingen van Israël, waarbij de VN niet te beroerd was er een resolutie over aan te nemen.

 

Israël sprak haar spijt uit over deze tragedie en stelde een onderzoek in, waarvan hieronder eindelijk het resultaat vermeld wordt. Uiteraard was het geen opzettelijke massamoord, maar een technisch falen, en was het projectiel bestemd voor de terroristen die de voorgaande dag Qassam raketten op Israël hadden afgevuurd. Welke maatregelen er precies zijn genomen om herhaling te voorkomen wordt niet vermeld.

 

Wat mij bijstaat van de berichtgeving in de Nederlandse kranten, is dat op dezelfde dag 45 Tamils in een vluchtelingenkamp op Sri Lanka omkwamen door raketbeschietingen van het Sri Lankaanse leger. Dat was een kort berichtje op pagina 4, zonder foto. Daar kwamen geen boze brieven over, geen regering sprak haar afschuw uit, en de VN zweeg in 192 talen...

 

 

Wouter

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February 26th, 2008

IDF SPOKESPERSON'S ANNOUNCEMENT

Military Advocate General Concludes his Investigation on Matter of IDF Shell Injuring Palestinian Civilians in Beit Hanun in November 2006

On November 8th, 2006, an IDF shell hit two buildings in the town of Beit Hanun, killing 21 Palestinian civilians and injuring additional others. As a result, former Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, appointed a committee, led by former Deputy Head of the Ground Forces Command, Maj. Gen. Meir Califfee, to investigate the circumstances of the incident. Following an extensive and thorough investigation, the Military Advocate General, Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendlblit, decided that the facts regarding the incident, presented by the committee, were detailed and clear, and that consequently there was no need to open a Military Police investigation on the matter. It was also decided that no legal action is to be taken against any military official regarding this incident.

The decision to fire artillery at launching sites in the area near Beit Hanun, from which Qassam rockets were fired at Israel previously, was carried out following credible and specific intelligence information, indicating the intention of the terrorist organizations to fire rockets from this area. The fire, aimed at one of the targets located over 450 meters away from the town's borders, in fact hit two residential buildings and caused the death and injury of the Palestinians.

The investigation shows clearly that the injury of the Palestinian civilians was not intentional and was directly due to a rare and severe failure in the artillery fire control system operated at the time of the incident. This failure caused incorrect range-findings that lead, unknowingly, to fire at a different target then planned initially. This failure was discovered in an inquiry conducted following the incident, which showed that the failure was indeed an extremely rare malfunction that even the designated technicians of the control system had not encountered in the past. In light of these findings, it is not possible to point to a legal circumstantial connection, between the behaviors of the people involved in the incident and the result of the incident.

In light of all the circumstances, the Military Advocate General concluded that the behavior of the people involved in the incident was not substantially or severely negligent in a manner that would justify taking legal actions against them.

Following the incident, the most high ranking commanders and professionals formed lessons and conclusions in order to prevent such an event from recurring in the future. These conclusions have been implemented in the combat field since.


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