Difficult issues, including the use of white phosphorus, as reported by The Times, will not be ignored.Which translates as: OK so we lied about using white phosphorus but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't believe us when we say we made every effort to avoid harming civilians.
A group of soldiers who took part in Israel's assault in Gaza say widespread abuses were committed against civilians under "permissive" rules of engagement.The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has dismissed the report as hearsay as the soldiers were anonymous:
"The IDF expects every soldier to turn to the appropriate authorities with any allegation,"There would of course be no repercussions...
Israel, which originally denied the use of white phosphorus in Gaza when questioned by The Times two weeks ago, has since said that all weapons used in Gaza were “within the scope of international law”.The usual tactic when accused of a war crime is to deny it. If you are proved wrong later, what have you lost?
And here we have another Hamas figure explaining how, when he got a phone call from the Israeli military warning him to get out of his house, he instead moved his family onto the roof, and invited his friends and neighbours to bring their wives and children into the house as human shields.I'm not going to get into justifying what the "Hamas figure" is alleged to have done, just highlight the comment that "it is extraordinary to phone your enemy and warn them to clear civilians from a target". It's a house. Apparently a house occupied by a family. In what sense is that a "target"? According to Harry's place, Israel should be given credit for suggesting that the family leave before destroying their house, which as far as I can see serves no purpose - not even the assassination of the "Hamas figure" beyond collective punishment and probably amounts to a war crime.
Both acts are extraordinary. It is extraordinary to phone your enemy and warn them to clear civilians from a target. And it is extraordinary not only to ignore the warning but to do the reverse and crowd the area with women and children.
The Times has identified stockpiles of white phosphorus (WP) shells from high-resolution images taken of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) artillery units on the Israeli-Gaza border this week. The pale blue 155mm rounds are clearly marked with the designation M825A1, an American-made WP munition. The shell is an improved version with a more limited dispersion of the phosphorus, which ignites on contact with oxygen, and is being used by the Israeli gunners to create a smoke screen on the ground.
The rounds, which explode into a shower of burning white streaks, were first identified by The Times at the weekend when they were fired over Gaza at the start of Israel's ground offensive. Artillery experts said that the Israeli troops would be in trouble if they were banned from using WP because it is the simplest way of creating smoke to protect them from enemy fire.
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Confronted with the latest evidence, an IDF spokeswoman insisted that the M825A1 shell was not a WP type. “This is what we call a quiet shell - it is empty, it has no explosives and no white phosphorus. There is nothing inside it,” she said.
“We shoot it to mark the target before we launch a real shell. We launch two or three of the quiet shells which are empty so that the real shells will be accurate. It's not for killing people,” she said.
Asked what shell was being used to create the smokescreen effect seen so clearly on television images, she said: “We're using what other armies use and we're not using any weapons that are banned under international law.”
Neil Gibson, technical adviser to Jane's Missiles and Rockets, insisted that the M825A1 was a WP round. “The M825A1 is an improved model. The WP does not fill the shell but is impregnated into 116 felt wedges which, once dispersed [by a high-explosive charge], start to burn within four to five seconds. They then burn for five to ten minutes. The smoke screen produced is extremely effective,” he said.
the Israelis are so ruthless that the reasons for the ban on journalism may be quite easily explained: that so many Israeli soldiers are going to kill so many innocents – more than three score by last night, and that's only the ones we know about – that images of the slaughter would be too much to tolerate.Meanwhile the Times has pictures which is says show the Israelis using phosporous as a weapon or a smokescreen, and in another story says that:
That the Israelis should use an old Soviet tactic to blind the world's vision of war may not be surprising. But the result is that Palestinian voices – as opposed to those of Western reporters – are now dominating the airwaves. The men and women who are under air and artillery attack by the Israelis are now telling their own story on television and radio and in the papers as they have never been able to tell it before, without the artificial "balance", which so much television journalism imposes on live reporting. Perhaps this will become a new form of coverage – letting the participants tell their own story. The flip side, of course, is that there is no Westerner in Gaza to cross-question Hamas's devious account of events: another victory for the Palestinian militia, handed to them on a plate by the Israelis.
Israeli forces pounded the Gaza Strip from air, land and sea today, killing at least 13 people - including seven children
Many fear that as the group acquires ever more sophisticated weaponry it is only a matter of time before the nuclear installation at Dimona, 20 miles east of Beersheba, falls within its sights.Dimona houses Israel’s only nuclear reactor and is believed to be where nuclear warheads are stored.This is the best the paper can do to stand up the claim that Dimona is threatened, which seems to be more about justifying Israel's killing of hundreds of people.
"We regret that people are trying to prejudge the IAEA's technical assessment... We are, however, accustomed to these kinds of efforts to hype and undermine the process before every meeting of the IAEA board."This could be very significant, although the IAEA would look a bit silly complaining about leaks and then confirming/denying them.
The IAEA did not challenge the substance of Monday's revelations about the uranium traces. The concern is that the leak of confidential information could jeopardise future Syrian cooperation.
Israel is an undeclared nuclear power and, unlike Syria, has never signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Olmert's goal, wrote Barnea and Shiffer, was to defend his conduct and leave a legacy, a legacy that might make life harder for Tzipi Livni, who is trying to form a coalition government that would make her prime minister. "There is no diplomatic fog in this interview that she can hide behind," they noted.
In the US and Britain, there is a campaign to smear anybody who tries to describe the plight of the Palestinian people. It is an attempt to intimidate and silence – and to a large degree, it works.It's impossible to disagree, even on Israel's "birthday".
Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, 23, was killed along with two bystanders after he got out of a vehicle marked "TV" and "Press" in central Gaza, the agency reports.
The implication of this logic is simple. The UN Human Rights Council doesn't give a toss about the human rights of the Palestinians in the sense of wanting them upheld. Its majority is far more interested in using Israel as a stick to beat the US with, or - in the case of Islamic states - as a bogeyman to dampen down domestic discontent.Interesting conspiracy theory, David. And you don't even know you're doing it.
