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Gaza Conflict Triggers Talk of War Crimes

With battles on pause, new fight begins over legality of assault

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 23, 2009 9:52 AM CST

(Newser) – Now that its 22-day offensive in Gaza has ended, Israel is facing a new battle—over the legality and morality of its military action. Several human rights groups, in Israel and elsewhere, have accused the army of committing war crimes in Gaza's cities and denying medical care and refuge to civilians. But PM Ehud Olmert said his government would "stand like a fortified wall" to protect officers from prosecution, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Israel in turn has accused Hamas of war crimes, for firing rockets at civilians in southern Israel and for using civilians and human shields. But it is Israel's action—criticized as out of proportion—receiving the most scrutiny, and the senior UN official in Gaza has called for an inquiry into possible war crimes. While Israel strongly denies any impropriety, it now insists that officers only give TV interviews with their faces blurred—lest they face international charges.

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (1)]

Hamas policemen walk past the destroyed Parliament building in Gaza City in the Gaza strip, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Palestinians gather around a fire as they burn rubbish taken from their house that was damaged in the recent Israeli army offensive in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, Thursday. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

In this photo released by the Israeli Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, right, talks with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, during their meeting in Jerusalem. (AP Photo)

A Palestinian elderly man walks next to Israeli soldiers during an Israeli army operation in the village of Tourah near the West Bank town of Jenin, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. The Israeli army often carries... (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

Palestinian men and boys on a donkey cart pass through destroyed houses in Mughraka, in the Gaza strip, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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We are witnessing a moral corrosion that is destroying everything at a fantastic pace. We've reached a threshold of insensitivity that we had never reached in the past. - Michael Sfard, a lawyer for Tel Aviv-based Volunteers for Human Rights

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 4 comments

riffran

Jan 24, 2009 4:29 AM CST

Better to wipe out the cancer (hammas) than to let it grow, and unfortunately Hammas "metastisized" into the innocent population, and they suffer the same fate as the rocket launching hiding cowards....Look Mustapha...a day care, lets launch from there, the children make good sheilds yes?

Guest

Jan 23, 2009 4:21 AM CST

Yes, of course, the Palestinian people are just a bunch of vermin that don't deserve life. The Geneva Convention is only for humans, right? None of this is Israel's fault anyway and they can simply solve the situation by using more force. That's certainly a new and promising strategy.

Guest

Jan 22, 2009 11:35 PM CST

War Crimes?? They should have never stopped the offensive. This ain't over yet.... and they shoulda finished it in GAZA. MISTAKE if you ask me!!

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Gaza Conflict Triggers Talk of War Crimes