Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Hamas crimes in Gaza

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Hamas_crimes_in_Gaza_29-Jan-2009.htm
Despite Hamas' best efforts to hide the truth about events in the Gaza
Strip, the evidence of Hamas' war crimes, its exaggeration of civilian
casualties and damage to property, its abuse of humanitarian aid and
its intimidation of Gaza's residents are finally coming to light.
Israel knows better than most countries the horrors of war. Eight
years of constant rocket barrages targeting Israeli civilians, eight
years of trying tactic after tactic to stop these war crimes left
Israel with little choice but to invoke its legitimate right of self-
defense.
When Israel did strike back against Hamas terror in Gaza, it took
unprecedented and innovative steps to try to encourage civilians to
avoid Hamas positions, even placing tens of thousands of phone calls
warning residents in hazardous areas. As British Colonel (ret.)
Richard Kemp commented on the BBC, "I don't think there's ever been a
time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to
reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF
is doing today in Gaza."
To Israel's great sorrow, innocent civilians in Gaza have been harmed.
However, the figures of civilian casualties have been greatly
exaggerated. Most of these figures come from Hamas sources, amplifying
the number of civilians killed by including as "children" teenage
Hamas fighters and as "women," female terrorists. According to an
Israeli investigation, of the 1,100-1,200 reported casualties, 250
were civilians. The rest are believed to be terrorists or have yet to
be identified, but given that most of them are young men in their 20s,
it is not unreasonable to assume that they are also members of Hamas
or other terrorist organizations.
Hamas is responsible, both morally and under international law, for
many of the dead and injured civilians. This terrorist organization
deliberately used the local population as human shields, a war crime.
Civilian structures were used as launching pads for rockets, a tactic
that is extremely hazardous to residents. Civilians were prevented, at
gunpoint, from fleeing the sites of battles and even children have
been grabbed to be used as living bulletproof vests. Even ambulances
were not safe from hijacking attempts by terrorists, who would lure
the ambulances into the heart of battle to transport Hamas terrorists
to safety.
Property damage, while sizeable, has also been exaggerated. As Tim
Butcher, a journalist intimately familiar with the Gaza Strip reported
(Telegraph, Jan 20): "There had been no carpet bombing of large areas,
no firebombing of complete suburbs. Targets had been selected and then
hit, often several times, but almost always with precision munitions.
Buildings nearby had been damaged and there had been some clear
mistakes... But, in most the cases, I saw the primary target had borne
the brunt… For the most part, I was struck by how cosmetically
unchanged Gaza appeared to be."
Hamas' rocket attacks, which continued throughout the operation,
constituted a double war crime. Not only were they aimed at about 15%
of Israel's civilian population, they were cynically carried out from
locations immediately adjacent to homes, schools, hospitals, relief
agency warehouses, mosques, public buildings - as well as from the
office building that housed foreign media studios. These reprehensible
acts were documented not only in Israeli aerial films, but by the
international media.
As Rod Nordland (Newsweek, Jan 20) described one event, "Suddenly
there was a terrific whoosh, louder even than a bomb explosion. It was
another of Hamas's homemade Qassam rockets being launched into Israel
- and the mobile launchpad was smack in the middle of the four
[apartment] buildings, where every apartment was full…"
Lorenzo Cremonesi (Corriere della Sera, Jan 21) relates the testimony
of "Um Abdallah":  "Practically all of the tallest buildings in Gaza
that were hit by Israeli bombs … had rocket launching pads on their
roofs, or were observation decks for the Hamas. They had also put them
near the big UN warehouse, which went up in flames."
Many of Gaza's residents are now returning home. Some have found
weapons left behind by Hamas terrorists who turned their homes into
forward positions against the IDF, or worse, bodies of terrorists
killed during the fighting. Many blame Hamas for the loss of life and
property damage caused by Hamas’ practice of hiding among the civilian
population. However, critical as they are of the Hamas regime in
private, few, if any, residents of Gaza will accuse Hamas publically,
a move that is tantamount to suicide.
An official Fatah spokesman in Ramallah (Jerusalem Post, Jan 19)
reported that 100 of his men in Gaza have been killed or wounded, some
brutally tortured, by Hamas. A Fatah leader in Gaza City claimed that
members of his faction were being held in school buildings and
hospitals that Hamas had turned into make-shift interrogation centers,
and as many as 80 were either shot in the legs or had their hands
broken for allegedly defying Hamas' orders (see also video of Fatah
testimonials about Hamas).
Ulrike Putz (Der Spiegel, Jan 23) managed to interview Palestinians
who were not too intimidated by Hamas to speak (as long as their full
names were not used): "Hail found out after the cease-fire that the
militants had used his house as a base for their operations. The door
to his house stood open and there were electric cables lying in the
hallway. When Hail followed them they led to his neighbor's house
which it seems Hamas had mined. As Hail, in his mid-30s, sat on his
porch and thought about what to do a man came by: He was from Hamas
and had left something in Hail's home. He let him in and the man then
emerged with a bullet proof vest, a rocket launcher and an ammunitions
belt. An hour later a fighter with Islamic Jihad called to the door,
then disappeared onto the roof and reappeared with a box of
ammunition."
Israel has a strong interest in the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip
and will work together with the international community and moderate
Arab regimes to improve the lives of Gaza's residents. However,
caution most be exercised to ensure that the aid does not end up in
Hamas' pockets.
This is not unwarranted wariness - Hamas has a long history of
stealing humanitarian aid for its own use, even while the operation
was ongoing. As Yaacov Katz reported (Jerusalem Post, Jan 12), "Hamas
raided some 100 aid trucks that Israel had allowed into Gaza, stole
their contents and sold them to the highest bidders."     Earlier
(Jerusalem Post, Jan 6) Mr. Katz related that "Hamas has set up an
independent hospital in the Gaza Strip to treat its operatives wounded
in fighting with the IDF - and, according to Israeli estimates, it is
pilfering a significant portion of the medicine allowed into the
Strip…"
These reports are not only coming in from Israeli sources. Jordan's
News Agency (Petra, Jan 20) reported on the hijacking of humanitarian
aid on its way to UNWRA warehouses in Gaza for distribution to the
civilian population: "A number of armed men have seized on Tuesday a
Jordanian aid convoy after entering the Gaza Strip… The armed men
opened fire at drivers after crossing Karem Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom]
crossing point and forced them to head to their own warehouses."
Hamas' hijacking of humanitarian aid is not only ethically repulsive,
it is extraordinary given that Hamas is attempting to claim that the
motive for its  rocket attacks is to force the opening of the
crossings. This assertion is, of course, preposterous given that the
rocket fire started eight years ago, when there was free trade with
Gaza and continued after Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza
Strip. Moreover, Hamas' constant and deadly rocket, mortar, truck-bomb
and shooting attacks on the crossings are one of the prime reasons for
their closing.
The complexities of fighting terrorist organizations are becoming more
familiar to democratic states, including NATO forces in Afghanistan. A
British soldier who served there analyzed the IDF's activities in
light of his experience and noted (The Spectator, Jan 24) that "I
believe that I and other soldiers understand the stress, friction and
confusion that combat brings in a way that media commentators and UN
bureaucrats never can."
However, one principle is clear to any unbiased analyst - as long as
Israel, and not Hamas, is blamed for civilian casualties and property
damage, Hamas will continue to use civilians as human shields and
violate every basic rule of international humanitarian law.
As Nir Boms, vice president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle
East, and Shayan Arya an Iranian activist, wrote (Jerusalem Post, Jan
28), "War, even when justified, brings much injustice with it. But
there is also an important lesson to be learned, and a hope that this
time it will not be completely missed by the rioting Arab street...
The Palestinian discourse often fails to address the question of
responsibility and accountability for Palestinian choices, decisions
and leadership." The Palestinians in Gaza must accept and take
responsibility for the consequences of the Hamas leaders they chose.
Fortunately, the truth is starting to come to light. Even a senior
European Union official - Louis Michel, European Commissioner for
Development and Humanitarian Aid - denounced Hamas, not only stating
(AFP, Jan 26) during his visit to Gaza: "I intentionally say this here
- Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such,"
but also concluding that: "At this time we have to also recall the
overwhelming responsibility of Hamas" for the conflict in Gaza.
---
"la popolazione va evacuata." (Luca Logi / rodewalder / Golda Meir,
febbraio 2008)
http://raionim.blogspot.com/2009/01/certo-che-i-qassam-sono-pericolosi_05.html


ma dovete dare un esame obbligatorio di chutzpah per diventare rabbini?