Amnesty International: full arms embargo vital as US munitions reported on way to Israel
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- Written by AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
- Published: 15 January 2009 15 January 2009
- Hits: 3007 3007
TO READ MORE ON THE CONFLICT IN GAZA PLEASE VISIT THE LINK: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/pages/crisis-in-gaza
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Press Release
For immediate release
14 January 2009
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Gaza conflict - full arms embargo vital as US munitions reported on way to Israel
A full arms embargo on all parties involved in the Gaza conflict is urgently needed to prevent further unlawful attacks and other violations of international law, as the civilian death toll continues to mount in Gaza. At least 900 Palestinians have so far been killed, more than a third of them civilians, including some 200 Palestinian children – as more US munitions are en route to the region.
“The last thing that is needed now is more weapons and munitions in the region, which is awash with arms that are being used in a manner which contravenes international law and is having a devastating effect on the civilian population in Gaza,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.
Amnesty International says the UN Security Council must act now and impose an immediate, comprehensive arms embargo on all parties to the conflict in Gaza to prevent any further flow of arms to the warring parties.
“We know that the Wehr Elbe, a German-owned cargo ship, left the USA on 20 December 2008 with a large consignment – 989 containers - of high explosives and other munitions,” said Malcolm Smart. “Hired and now legally controlled by the US Military Sealift Command, it is destined for the Israeli port of Ashdod and was due to transit via Greece, though its latest reported position indicates that the shipment’s route may have changed.”
Tenders for two other arms shipments totalling 325 containers of US munitions were approved by the Pentagon on 31 December, four days after the start of Israel's current attacks on targets in Gaza. These two consignments were due to be shipped to Ashdod, Israel, from Astakos in Greece, but that particular tender has now been cancelled, according to information provided to Amnesty International by the US Military Sealift Command. Tender documents show that these shipments contain white phosphorous, known for its potential to cause severe burns and an indiscriminate weapon when used as an airburst in densely-populated civilian areas as now alleged in Gaza. The US Department of Defence says it is now looking at other means to deliver the munitions to a US stockpile in Israel. A US-Israel agreement has allowed US munitions stockpiled in Israel to be transferred to the Israeli Defence Force in "an emergency."
“The US government should not proceed with these or any other arms shipments to Israel, and the Greek and other governments should not allow their ports or other facilities to be used to ferry arms to Israel or the other parties to this conflict.”
“The plight of civilians in Gaza has become increasingly desperate in the six days since the Security Council’s near unanimous, but unheeded, call for a ceasefire,” said Malcolm Smart. “Israeli forces continue to carry out unlawful attacks, including attacks which are disproportionate, and stand accused of using weapons such as white phosphorous which pose an unacceptable risk to civilians when deployed in densely-populated areas. Meanwhile, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups persist in firing indiscriminate rockets into civilian areas in Israel.”
“In addition to locally produced arms, Israeli forces are carrying out unlawful attacks using foreign weaponry and other military equipment supplied mainly by the USA but also from other countries, while rockets and rocket-making equipment smuggled into Gaza from Egypt are being used against the civilian population in southern Israel,” said Malcolm Smart.
A Security Council arms embargo is needed primarily to prevent new weapons supplies reaching the two sides, but it could also send a powerful signal to Israel and Hamas about the Council’s determination to uphold international law.
“The Security Council must insist on full accountability for war crimes and other serious violations committed during this conflict,” said Malcolm Smart. "This means taking steps to ensure that alleged violations are thoroughly and impartially investigated, and that any persons found responsible are brought to justice in fair trials.”
NOTE:
Amnesty International has identified at least 17 states apart from the US that have supplied arms and related materials to Israel since 2001 – the US is by far the largest supplier but significant supplies have also been sent from Germany, France, the UK, Spain, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Australia, Romania, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Serbia-Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzogovina. The Netherlands and Greece have both been major transit countries to Israel, especially for US arms.
To prevent irresponsible transfers of conventional arms being used for serious violations of international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law, Amnesty International and hundreds of other NGOs, including the International Action Network on Small Arms and Oxfam International, have been campaigning for the establishment of a global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Over 150 Member States have voted for a UN process towards the establishment of an ATT, a process which will resume on 23 January in New York.
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Israel Strike Hits U.N. Building in Gaza Strip
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- Written by TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
- Published: 15 January 2009 15 January 2009
- Hits: 3034 3034
GAZA — Israeli forces shelled areas deep inside Gaza City on Thursday, hitting the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and injuring at least three people among the hundreds sheltering in the compound, according to United Nations officials and witnesses.
The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had told him the strike on the compound was a “grave mistake.” Mr. Ban, who was in Israel Thursday to promote a cease-fire, said he expressed "strong protest and outrage" to Israel.
The strike came as Israeli ground forces pushed further into Gaza City and intensified its shelling of both outlying neighborhoods and central districts, sending thousands of panicked residents fleeing from their homes, witnesses said. Among other buildings hit in the center of the city, the witnesses said, was one occupied by several media organizations, and at least two television cameramen were hospitalized.
A spokesman for the Relief and Works Agency, Christopher Gunness, said that the Israelis had been provided with the GPS coordinates of all United Nations facilities in Gaza. Je said that that two buildings were ablaze and that there were five fully laden fuel vehicles at the site.
Earlier in Israel’s 20-day-old campaign against Hamas, Israeli mortar shells landed outside a United Nations school compound in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, killing at least 40 Palestinians, according to United Nations and hospital officials.
I
90 organizations, mainly French, to prosecute Israel for War Crimes
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- Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
- Published: 15 January 2009 15 January 2009
- Hits: 3295 3295
Ninety organizations, mainly French, decided to prosecute Israel at the International Court for committing War Crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli offensive left more than 1033 Palestinians dead, and over 4580 wounded in its first two weeks,
Mohammad Al Araby – Brussels
The French Lamond Newspaper reported that the organizations prosecuting Israel in the International Court are pro-Palestinian and that this step comes as several Arab and international organizations are also moving towards filing lawsuit against Israel for war crimes against the unarmed Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially since Israel is using internationally banned weapons in its war such as White Phosphorus.
A French lawyer who phrased the lawsuit said that the eight article of the Rome Conventions specifies a war crime as “a deliberate act that aims at harming civilians and causing great suffering, harming them physically, destroying their property in a way that cannot be justified”.
The lawyer, Jill Devier, said that a country cannot justify its war crimes by saying that it was subjected to missile fire “even if the Palestinian homemade shells fired into Israel also constitute a war crime”.
He added that the lawsuit against Israel is well supported by two main legal basis;
1. The inequivalent Israel attack against Gaza, as it includes shelling heavily populated areas. He said that this issue was also raised at the Security Council on December 31.
2. The targets of the Israeli shelling were mainly civilian, as most of the casualties are children and women, and the army also shelled governmental facilities, mosques, sport clubs, and a building which had journalists on its rooftop.
Responding to a question regarding the chances of winning the lawsuit especially since it is prosecuting figures in a country that does not recognize the international court, Devier said that this issue makes the case more difficult but added that several Israeli officials have dual citizenships and could be prosecuted in the countries of their second citizenship.
Another possibility, he added, is that the United Nations can form special courts or the security council can call for a lawsuit against Israel, yet he said that the two options are hard to achieve under the current international situation, most likely referring to the biased US government support to Israel.
The number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli offensive and illegal war against Gaza exceeded 1000, while at least 4,418 were wounded. Most of the casualties are women, elderly and children.
Israel Threatens to Shoot Unarmed Civilians aboard Mercy Ship, Call Israeli Military
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- Written by Lubna Masarwa Lubna Masarwa
- Published: 14 January 2009 14 January 2009
- Hits: 3190 3190
www.FreeGaza.org
Israel Threatens to Shoot Unarmed Civilians aboard Mercy Ship
For more information, please contact:
(Cyprus) Lubna Masarwa, +357 97 625 828 <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
(Cyprus) Mary Hughes, +357 99 081 767 <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
(Gaza) Ewa Jasiewicz, +972 598 700 497 <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
(Mediterranean Sea, 15 January 2009) - The Israeli navy today threatened
to kill unarmed civilians aboard a mercy ship on its way to deliver
medical supplies and doctors to besieged Gaza.
The Free Gaza Movement ship, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, left Cyprus Wednesday
morning carrying doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and
parliamentarians. The ship also carried over a ton of desperately needed
medicines donated by the European Campaign to Break the Siege, intended
for overwhelmed hospitals in the Gaza Strip. At the request of the ship’s
organizers the passenger list and manifest were publicly released, and
Cypriot authorities searched the boat prior to its departure in order to
certify that it only carried humanitarian items. The organizers also sent
an official notification to the Israeli government of their intent to
break through the blockade of Gaza.
At roughly 3am UST (1am GMT), in international waters 100 miles off the
coast of Gaza, at least five Israeli gunboats surrounded the SPIRIT OF
HUMANITY and began recklessly cutting in front of the slow-moving civilian
craft. The Israeli warships radioed the SPIRIT, demanding that the ship
turn around or they would open fire and “shoot.” When asked if the Israeli
navy was acknowledging that they intended to commit a war crime by
deliberately firing on unarmed civilians, the warships replied that they
were prepared to use “any means” to stop the ship.
An earlier attempt by Free Gaza to deliver doctors and medical supplies
ended on 30 December when Israeli gunboats deliberately and repeatedly
rammed the DIGNITY, almost sinking that ship. Rather than endanger the
lives of its passengers, the SPIRIT is now returning to Cyprus.
Israel's reckless and shocking threats against an unarmed ship on a
mission of mercy are a violation of both international maritime law and
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that "the high seas
should be reserved for peaceful purposes."
CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it immediately STOP attacking
the civilian population of Gaza and STOP using violence to prevent human
rights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence:
+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Israeli Navy Spokesperson:
+ 972 5 781 86248
###
The Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group, sent two boats to Gaza in
August 2008. These were the first international boats to land in the port
in 41 years. Since August, four more voyages were successful, taking
Parliamentarians, human rights workers, and other dignitaries to witness
the effects of Israel's draconian policies on the civilians of Gaza.
http://www.FreeGaza.org
1033 killed in the ongoing offensive, at least 4580 wounded The Israeli army continued its offensive
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- Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
- Published: 14 January 2009 14 January 2009
- Hits: 3466 3466
