Prosecutor considers putting Israeli leaders on trial for Gaza 'war crimes'

86 war crimes cases against Israeli officials, military commanders

IAEA to investigate Israeli uranium use

Palestinian religious endowments organization says Israel destroyed 41 mosques

The International Criminal Court is exploring ways to prosecute 15 Israeli leaders over alleged war crimes in Gaza, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The alleged crimes include the use of deadly white phosphorus in densely populated civilian areas, as revealed in an investigation by The Times newspaper last month. Israel initially denied using the controversial weapon, which causes horrific burns, but was forced later, in the face of mounting evidence, to admit to having deployed it.

When Palestinian groups petitioned the ICC this month, its prosecutor said that it was unable to take the case because it had no jurisdiction over Israel, a non-signatory to the court. Now, however, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, has said that he is examining the case for Palestinian jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Gaza.

Palestinian groups have submitted arguments asserting that the Palestinian Authority is the de facto state in the territory where the crimes were allegedly committed.

“It is the territorial state that has to make a reference to the court. They are making an argument that the Palestinian Authority is, in reality, that state,” Ocampo told The Times at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Part of the Palestinian argument rests on the Israeli insistence that it has no responsibility for Gaza under international law since it withdrew from the territory in 2006. “They are quoting jurisprudence,” Moreno-Ocampo said. “It’s very complicated. It’s a different kind of analysis I am doing. It may take a long time but I will make a decision according to law.”

Moreno-Ocampo said that his examination of the case did not necessarily reflect a belief that war crimes had been committed in Gaza. Determining jurisdiction was a first step, he said, and only after it had been decided could he launch an investigation.

The prosecutor’s office has already received several files on alleged crimes from Palestinian groups and is awaiting further reports from the Arab League and Amnesty International containing evidence gathered in Gaza.

Under the Rome treaty that founded it, the ICC can investigate and prosecute allegations of the most serious war crimes only if the country responsible is unwilling or unable to do so through its national courts.

States that are party to the treaty can refer cases of crimes committed by their citizens or on their territory. Cases involving the citizens or territory of a country that has not signed up to the court can be referred by the United Nations Security Council – as in the case of Darfur. Ivory Coast set a precedent as the first non-state party to accept the ICC’s jurisdiction over alleged war crimes on its territory. It signed the Rome treaty but never ratified it. In 2005 it lodged a declaration with the court accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes committed there since September 2002.

Palestinian lawyers argue that the Palestinian Authority should be allowed to refer the cases in Gaza on this same ad hoc basis – despite its lack of internationally recognized statehood.

The case has wide-reaching ramifications for the Palestinian case for statehood. If the court rejects the case, it will highlight the legal black hole that Palestinians find themselves in while they remain stateless. However, it also underlines some of Israel’s worst fears about a Palestinian state on its borders.

A Palestinian state that ratified the Rome treaty would then be able to refer alleged Israeli war crimes to the court without the current legal wrangling. The case could also lead to snowballing international recognition of a Palestinian state by countries eager to see Israel prosecuted.

One avenue would be for Israel to agree to investigate its commanders and prosecute any crimes discovered. That would remove any case from the orbit of the international court. So far that appears unlikely, given Israel’s repeated denials of war crimes in Gaza.

The Israeli army has, however, launched an internal inquiry into whether white phosphorus was used in some cases in built-up areas, having eventually admitted that it did use the incendiary substance, which is not illegal as a battlefield smokescreen but is banned from being used in civilian areas. Camera footage from one such attack shows what appears to be white phosphorous raining down on a UN school in Beit Lahiya, where Red Crescent ambulances and their crews were stationed.

A coalition of Israeli human rights groups has urged the country’s attorney-general to open an independent investigation into allegations of war crimes by troops, urging that to do so could head off international court cases. The groups, including the anti-settlement organization B’Tselem, said that there had been reports of Israeli forces firing into civilian areas, denying medical aid to the wounded and preventing Palestinian ambulances from reaching them, and of firing at people carrying white flags.

Meanwhile, the UN is preparing an inquiry into the bombardment of a UN school in Jebalya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces fired artillery shells outside the school, which had been converted into a refugee shelter for Gazans fleeing their homes. At least 43 people were killed. Israel said that Palestinian militants had fired from the compound, which was denied by the UN.

Recently, a new website was launched in Israel (www.wanted.org.il) to document these calls to out Israeli leaders on trial.

There is no information about who launched the site, but some security sources assert that a number of Israeli human right activists launched the site in coordination with western bodies.

According to the site, the lawsuits were presented as follow:

*Defense Minister Ehud Barak: In June 2007, the suspect imposed a siege on 1.5 million residents of Gaza. The siege, which is ongoing in 2009, is collective punishment according to International Law. The year and a half long siege caused severe food and fuel shortages, intermittent drinking water and electricity supply, disruption to sewage treatment plants and shortages of medicine and essential medical equipment, affecting the lives of 1.5 million people - a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Rome Statute.

On 27 December 2008, the suspect ordered the aerial bombardment of Gazan population centers. The attacks involved hundreds of fighter jet sorties, dropping hundreds of tons of bombs on Gazan neighborhoods. At least 1,300 people - men, women and children were killed and 5,300 were injured. Schools, hospitals and UN facilities were targeted, medical crews shot at and prevented from evacuating the wounded.

On 10 December 2008, a formal complaint was submitted by Lebanese lawyers to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, against Ehud Barak and four other Israelis: Ehud Olmert, Matan Vilnai, Avi Dichter and Gabi Ashkenazi on the suspicion that they had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by ordering and maintaining a siege on Gaza.

*Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: On 12 July 2006, the suspect ordered the bombing of cities and villages in Lebanon. The 34-day bombing of residential areas broke international law. The aerial bombing and land assault ordered by the suspect, killed approximately 1,200 people and injured about 4,400. During the attack, the suspect ordered several thousand cluster bombs to be dropped near residential areas in Lebanon, something forbidden under international conventions. In total, about a million small bombs were dropped, which led to the post war deaths of 30 people and the injury of 215, including 90 children.

*Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni: Attacking innocent people, shooting indiscriminately into residential areas, causing injuries, destroying essential infrastructure such as water, electrical plants and hospitals are all prohibited under International law and are war crimes and crimes against humanity.

*Former Defense Minister Amir Peretz: On 12 July 2006, the suspect ordered the aerial bombardment of villages and cities in Lebanon, targeting essential infrastructure, such as water, food, fuel and electricity supplies. The bombing also damaged hospitals, clinics and schools - all places expressly prohibited from attack under international law. As a result of the bombing, ground assault and artillery fire, more than 1,200 people were killed including hundreds of children and elderly people.

*Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer: At the end of the ’67 war, the suspect was the head of the Sayeret Shaked IDF Unit. According to testimonies by Israeli and Egyptian soldiers, the suspect ordered the killing of 250 Egyptian or Palestinian fighters (exact nationality unclear) shortly after the war ended. Evidence indicates that the killings were carried out using helicopters flying low above the Sinai desert, hunting the retreating soldiers, some of whom were unarmed.

Between March 2001 and November 2002 the suspect, acting as Minister of Defense, led a policy of extra judicial killings, collective punishment and the shelling of residential areas in the West Bank and Gaza. All of these actions are prohibited under international law and constitute war crimes and crime against humanity, and since July 2002 are prosecutable in the International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands.

*Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter: From July 1, 2002, on the day the International Criminal Court was established, until May 2005, the suspect was head of the Shabak, the Israeli intelligence service (GSS). As head of the Shabak, the suspect ordered the tortures of detained Palestinians - an activity explicitly prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute and the International Convention against Torture. Torture is a crime against humanity.

In July 2002, the suspect was part of a group, which ordered the assassination of Salah Shehadeh, the commander of the Hamas military wing. The assassination was carried out by dropping a one-ton bomb on Shehadeh's house, causing the deaths of 15 people, including 9 children, and injuring dozens more. Extra-judicial executions are war crimes under international law. The bombing of residential neighborhoods is collective punishment.

*Former Head of the Israeli Internal Security services Carmi Gilon: From 1995-1996, the suspect was head of the Israeli Internal Security services, also known as the Shabak (GSS). In this capacity, he ordered the torture of Palestinian detainees – an activity prohibited under international law and classed as a crime against humanity.

According to interviews the suspect gave to various media after the end of his service, the suspect was personally involved in about 100 cases of torture of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom were released without any trial. In those interviews, the suspect said he supported torture and even called on the Israeli government and Supreme Court to continue the policy of torture. This is forbidden.

*Dan Halutz: On 12 July 2006, the suspect, as Chief of Staff, ordered air strikes on villages and cities in Lebanon, causing destruction and killing for 34 days. This is prohibited under international law.

Following the air strikes, which destroyed infrastructure and necessities for human life, nearly 900,000 people were forced to leave their homes or remain without shelter for weeks. Despite this, the suspect continued to order his pilots to bombard Lebanon repeatedly, wiping out entire neighborhoods.

*Doron Almog: On 10 January 2002, as head of the Southern Command, the suspect ordered the demolition of 59 houses in Rafah, occupied Gaza, an act that is considered to be collective punishment under international law and therefore prohibited.

*Eliezer Shkedy: On 12th July 2006, the suspect was head of the Israeli Air Force and therefore responsible for thousands of fighter jet sorties, which bombed residential areas in Lebanon. The bombings, using hundreds of tons of explosives, damaged more than 100,000 homes. The Air Force, under his command, deliberately targeted water sources and electrical power stations, and wrecked schools, hospitals and clinics. The air strikes killed hundreds of people and caused hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, becoming refugees without shelter.

*Giora Eiland: In July 2008, a claim was filed against the suspect in the High Court in Spain on suspicion that he was involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity for ordering a one ton bomb to be dropped on a house in Gaza, which caused the deaths of 15 people including 9 children (July 2002).

*Gabi Ashkenazi: On 27th December 2008, the suspect, as Chief of Staff, ordered the Israeli army to attack densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip. For three weeks, 1,500 tons of bombs were dropped from the air on residential neighborhoods in Gaza and tens of thousands of artillery shells were fired from tanks.

*Matan Vilnai: In July 2007, the suspect along with his accomplices ordered a siege on 1.5 million people in Gaza. The siege caused severe deprivation by preventing the regular supply of food, water, gas, electricity, and medication to the residents living there.

*Moshe Bogie Yaalon: On 18th April 1996, IDF troops fired 38 artillery shells measuring 155 mm at the UN compound in the village of Qana, Lebanon where 800 refugees were sheltering. They had fled their homes due to Operation Grapes of Wrath. The IDF attack was in response to Hezbollah fighters launching rockets at IDF forces from a place a few hundred meters from the compound. The IDF shelling killed 106 people and left dozens of survivors injured.

*Shaul Mofaz: Between, October 2000 and June 2002 the suspect ordered a series of actions against the Palestinian people, which included assassinations, torture, house demolitions and the deportation of civilians. In early 2001, the suspect, as Chief of Staff ordered the Israeli army to kill 70 armed Palestinians per day.

On 29th March 2002 and for 6 weeks after, the suspect was in charge of a military operation called "Operation Defensive Shield" in which, according to the Red Crescent, the army killed 216 Palestinians and wounded 416.

Meanwhile, the secretary general of the United Nations has called for a full investigation into Israel's shelling of three of its buildings in the Gaza Strip during its three-week long assault against Hamas.

A visibly furious Ban Ki-moon condemned as "outrageous, shocking and alarming" the destruction he had seen while touring Gaza, and described as "excessive use" of force the violence wrought by both Israel and Hamas rockets.

"These are heartbreaking scenes I have seen and I am deeply grieved by what I have seen today," he said, standing against a backdrop of still-smoking food aid in a UN warehouse destroyed by Israeli gunfire. Demanding a proper judicial inquiry and guarantees that UN buildings would not be attacked again, Ban said: "I am just appalled. I am not able to describe how I am feeling, having seen this site of the bombing of the United Nations compound. This was an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the United Nations."

An aide to Ban said he had come to Gaza to express solidarity with the Palestinians who had suffered during the 22-day Israeli assault.

Ban's comments follow furious remarks delivered by senior officials of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) at the weekend when two children were killed by Israeli shellfire at a school where hundreds of people were taking refuge. Officials then called for an inquiry into "possible war crimes".

During the conflict Israeli shells hit the UN headquarters in Gaza as well as two UN schools, killing nearly 40 people near one of the schools in the worst incident.

Although the Israeli military announced that it would launch an inquiry at the "highest level" into the five most controversial incidents where civilians were killed – including the targeting of UN buildings – it appeared to have pre-judged that inquiry by adding that initial Israeli Defense Force (IDF) investigations had shown hostile fire was coming from or near all five locations before they were hit.

Ban's comments came as Israel's foreign minister and leader of the Kadima party, Tzipi Livni, made clear that Israel would only consider acceding to a UN security council resolution demanding a full lifting of the economic blockade on Gaza – in force for a year and a half – when Hamas released Corporal Gilad Shalit, who has been in captivity since 2006.

The international Red Cross said that Israel has fired white phosphorus shells in its offensive in the Gaza Strip, but has no evidence to suggest the incendiary agent is being used improperly or illegally.

The comments came after a human rights organization accused the Jewish state of using white phosphorus, highly ignites when it strikes the skin and burns straight through or until it is cut off from oxygen. It can cause horrific injuries.

The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Israel to exercise "extreme caution" in using the incendiary agent, which is used to illuminate targets at night or create a smoke screen for day attacks, said Peter Herby, the head of the organization's mines-arms unit.

"In some of the strikes in Gaza it's pretty clear that phosphorus was used," Herby told The Associated Press. "But it's not very unusual to use phosphorus to create smoke or illuminate a target. We have no evidence to suggest it's being used in any other way."

In response, the Israeli military said that it "wishes to reiterate that it uses weapons in compliance with international law, while strictly observing that they be used in accordance with the type of combat and its characteristics."

Herby said that using phosphorus to illuminate a target or create smoke is legitimate under international law, and that there was no evidence the Jewish state was intentionally using phosphorus in a questionable way, such as burning down buildings or consciously putting civilians at risk.

Making a passionate plea to Israel, a top UN official in Gaza has asked it to open all border crossings and allow thousands of tons of aid to flow into the Strip to stem rising tide of anger among Palestinians following the deadly three-week military action in the region.

The appeal from the Director of Operations in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Near East (UNRWA), John Ging, came as the United Nations officials were expressing frustration over the quantity of aid going into Gaza through check points controlled by Israelis.

In the wake of the collapse of economy and lack of jobs, an overwhelming majority of Gazans depend on the United Nations for basic food supplies and now the world body needs to import construction material also to repair and reconstruct infrastructure destroyed during the Israeli action.

Each truck is checked by Israeli customs and items which it feels can be used by Hamas to fight it are not allowed in but the officials do not give any explanation as to why a particular item is not allowed to go in, except saying it is a security risk.

The UN apparently does not agree with all the decisions. However, it has little choice but to accept Israeli verdict. Almost two weeks after the devastating Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza ended, full access for relief supplies remains the key issue, Ging said.

"Shamefully, there are thousands of tons of aid waiting on the borders of Gaza that need to be connected right now with the people," he told a news conference in New York via video-link.

"The donors have been very generous, the operation in getting it (the aid) from all over the world to this part of the world has been a success and very quick, but now we have the bottleneck, and of course ... the Government of Israel in the first instance has to find operational solutions to get the crossing points open," Ging said, noting that only about 100 truckloads are crossing daily.

A daily average of 130 trucks crossed into Gaza in the second half of last year before the surfacing of huge new demands stemming from the massive devastation wrought by the three-week offensive launched by Israel with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks.

The military operation claimed over 1,300 lives, 412 of them children, wounded more than 5,450 and destroyed or damaged 20,000 buildings and much infrastructure.

The UN has estimated that some 600 trucks a day are needed to keep Gaza running, even before the current damage. Israel has cut back supplies and closed crossings frequently for security reasons and in response to rocket attacks.

"The bottom line is the people here need that food and other supplies, they need it right now, and of course that's what's feeding their misery and their anger," Ging said.

"I'm not saying that the entire population has turned over to extremism, I'm saying that there's more of it than there was before. But of course the majority of people here are very angry," he said, stressing that if that anger is not channeled positively into changes on the ground, "we will suffer negative consequences- a fertile ground for extremism."

Ging went to Jerusalem to meet US' Mideast envoy George Mitchell and stressed to him that access is the key, noting that the prospect of a dignified existence for Gazans is a prerequisite for security and stability.

Summing up the current situation, Ging said UNRWA had increased the number of its food aid beneficiaries from 750,000 to 900,000 and was helping 10,000 homeless people with rental payment.

Tens of thousands of others whose homes were destroyed or damaged in the Israeli bombardment have sought refuge with relatives and friends, but they need blankets and clothes.

On the positive side, electricity supply has now increased to 16 hours, compared with only eight hours last week, and the number of people without water has dropped from 500,000 to 100,000 as infrastructure repairs continue.

But in an example of the difficulties UNRWA faces, Israel banned the import of plastic bags which the agency needs for its 20,000 daily food parcels. UN officials are trying to find out why, Ging said.

"We know the crossing points can be opened if there's political will," he told a questioner. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that almost all of Gaza's 13,000 families who depend on farming, herding and fishing suffered damage to their assets during the conflict, with many farms completely destroyed.

"For many women whose husbands were killed or injured during the conflict it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide food for their families," FAO Senior Project Coordinator in Jerusalem Luigi Damiani said.

FAO is already planning emergency agricultural rehabilitation to assist the most vulnerable, including input packages of seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, feed and veterinary kits to bolster food production for the coming spring season.

Aid will also focus on repairing damaged greenhouses, animal sheds, irrigation networks and water wells. The agency will need USD 6.5 million for these immediate activities, which will directly benefit around 27,500 people.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes appealed to Israel to re-open border crossings into the besieged Gaza Strip to allow delivery of badly needed relief aid in the wake of the devastating 22-day conflict.

"Israel has a particular responsibility as the occupying power in this context, because of its control of Gaza's borders with Israel, to respect the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law," Holmes told the 15-member UN Security Council during a briefing on his recent visit to the region.

"It is therefore critical that new steps are taken immediately by the Israeli authorities to move to the sustained re-opening of crossing points," he said.

He underscored the importance of improving the living conditions of Gaza's 1.5 million people to avoid further despair and undermining efforts to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and another 5,300 wounded in Israel's land, sea and air assault on Gaza, which was launched on December 27 to stop Hamas firing rockets at southern Israel and ended January 18.

The UN nuclear watchdog says it will open an investigation into Israel's alleged use of depleted uranium during its Gaza offensive.

The UN body responded after Arab nations sent a letter to the Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, asking for a probe into the issue.

In a letter on behalf of Arab ambassadors, Saudi envoy Prince Mansour Al-Saoud expressed "deep concern regarding the information ... that traces of depleted uranium have been found in Palestinian victims."

"We are circulating the letter to member states and will investigate the matter to the extent of our ability," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.

The exact course of action will be decided after member states have been consulted, the UN agency said.

Israeli ambassador to the IAEA, Israel Michaeli, declined to comment. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, however, said "I deny this completely," adding that such allegations were "no more than a recurring motif of anti-Israel propaganda".

An IAEA article on the issue says that while depleted uranium "is assumed to be potentially carcinogenic ... the lack of evidence for a definite cancer risk in studies over many decades is significant and should put the results of assessments in perspective."

Human rights groups and foreign officials have hit out at Israel over its suspected use of a number of controversial weapons during its aerial, naval and ground assault on the Palestinian territory.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, along with the United Nations relief agency in Gaza, have said there is widespread evidence of Israel's use of white phosphorus bombs during its offensive against the coastal sliver.

London-based human rights group Amnesty International said that Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza's densely-populated urban neighborhoods constitutes a "war crime".

Israel had previously rejected reports that the chemical was used in the territory, and claimed that all weapons used were legal under international law.

However, Haaretz newspaper reported, that Israel would start an inquiry to focus on the alleged firing of about 20 phosphorus shells around the northern town of Beit Lahiya by Israeli paratroopers.

Apart from white phosphorus, the Israeli army used a variety of other weapons in densely populated civilian areas of Gaza in the three-week conflict that began on 27 December.

Flechettes are 4cm long metal darts that are sharply pointed at the front, with four fins at the rear. Between 5,000 and 8,000 are packed into 120mm shells which are generally fired from tanks. The shells explode in the air and scatter the flechettes in a conical pattern over an area about 300m wide and 100m long.

An anti-personnel weapon designed to penetrate dense vegetation, flechettes should never be used in built-up civilian areas. The Israeli army has used them in Gaza periodically for several years. In most cases their use has resulted in civilians being killed or injured.

Amnesty International's fact-finding team in Gaza first heard about the use of flechettes in the most recent conflict some ten days ago. The father of one of the victims showed the team a flechette which had been taken out of his son's body.

The team described how on Monday it visited towns and villages around Gaza and found more hard evidence of the use of flechettes.

In 'Izbat Beit Hanoun, to the south-west of the town of Beit Hanoun, several flechette shells were fired into the main road, killing two people and injuring several others on the morning of 5 January.

Wafa' Nabil Abu Jarad, a 21-year-old pregnant mother of two, was one of those killed. Her husband and her mother-in-law told the team that the family had just had breakfast and were outside the house drinking tea in the sun.

An Amnesty International team in Gaza is reporting on the targeting of medics by Israel and has found evidence of US missiles being used in the attack.

The munitions appear to be AGM-114 HELLFIRE missiles, anti-tank, anti-armor laser-guided missiles developed by Lockheed Martin/Boeing out of Lockheed's "Missiles and Fire Control" division in Dallas, Texas and produced by Hellfire Systems L.L.C., a Lockheed/Boeing joint venture in Orlando, FL.

Since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on December 27, as many as 725 wounded Palestinian crossed into Egypt via Rafah border crossing for medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

Around 603 injured Palestinians are now in the various Egyptian hospitals, said a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Health & Population.

559 of them are currently receiving medical treatment and 44 will be released after their conditions improved, the statement said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has vowed to protect any soldier accused of war crimes in the Gaza Strip from prosecution overseas.

Olmert’s decision comes after the United Nations declared they wanted an independent investigation into whether war crimes had been committed in the conflict. Among the accusations that have been made against the Israeli military Israeli is the use of white phosphorous shells as well as indiscriminate firing from soldiers.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting Olmert said, “The commanders and soldiers that were sent on the task in Gaza should know that they are safe from any tribunal and that the State of Israel will assist them in this issue and protect them as they protected us with their bodies during the military operation in Gaza.”