*Israel admits white phosphorus use*
*Israel had initially denied using white phosphorus, a chemical
agent that causes severe burns [AFP]
*
** Israel has admitted to using white phosphorus during its war on the Gaza
Strip earlier this year, but says it did so in accordance with international
law.
The admission came in a 163-page document published by the Israeli foreign
ministry on Thursday ahead of a UN report next week.
The Israeli army "used munitions containing white phosphorus" in Gaza, the
document said, but it denied violating international law, saying it had not
fired such weapons inside populated areas.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Jerusalem, said the Israeli army
had initially denied using white phosphorus, a chemical agent that causes
severe burns.
"During the war, when we first started seeing the white phosphorous, the
Israeli army said that everything it was using was in compliance with
international law; it would not tell us whether or not it was using it," she
said.
*Legitimate use*
"As the campaign went on, it became very obvious [on television] that it was
being used and the Israeli army, as well as government spokesmen, told us
that it was being used," our correspondent said.
*IN DEPTH*
Gaza's phosphorus
legacy<http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/crisisingaza/2009/03/20093271397471925.html>
UN releases Gaza attack
photos<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200912284850930973.html>
War crimes convictions after
Gaza?<http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/01/20091229274380583.html>
*Timeline*: Gaza
crisis<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200917205418665491.html>
*Video*: Gaza speaks out on white phosphorus
use<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/03/200932618435772724.html>
"The caveat that the Israeli army pressed on was that it was being used
within the rules of war; that meant it was not being used amid a civilian
population and that it was being used to provide a smokescreen legitimately,
as opposed to illegitimately."
International law permits the use of white phosphorus as an "obscurant" to
cover troop movements and prevent enemies from using certain guided weapons.
The Israeli government report follows charges from the UN and human rights
groups that Israeli forces committed war crimes and violated international
law during the operation.
UN officials have also said that they have evidence that white phosphorus
was used in an attack on the UN relief agency's main building in Gaza that
left three people injured.
But the government defended its military campaign as a "necessary and
proportionate" response to Hamas rocket fire at Israel.
"Israel had both a right and an obligation to take military action against
Hamas in Gaza to stop Hamas' almost incessant rocket and mortar attacks," it
said.
*Misconduct investigation*
The Israeli government also said it is investigating 100 complaints of
misconduct by its forces during the three week war that began on December
27.
Our correspondent said the report follows several testimonies from witnesses
and human rights organisations about the Israeli military's conduct.
"What we've seen in the past few months since the end of the war are various
human rights reports from Amnesty International, the United Nations, Human
Rights Watch, as well as testimonies coming out from army soldiers
themselves," she said.
"What really ties all of these reports together is the idea that there was
no proportionality and a deliberate use of force against the civilian
population in Gaza."
*Israeli 'acknowledgment'*
John Ging, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in
Gaza, welcomed the report as an "acknowledgment that an investigation has to
be done into what happened" during the conflict.
* Human rights groups have charged the Israeli army with violating
international law during the war [AFP]***
But he told Al Jazeera that the process has taken "far too long".
"What we actually need is an independent investigation that is credible for
both sides," he said.
"The litmus test is that [any investigation] has to be credible to both
sides. As is well documented, both sides have certain concerns and they have
to be addressed.
"We have to see the rule of international law applied and upheld,
even-handedly, with the confidence of both populations."
Israel has consistently said its troops respected international law during
the war which ended in January.
Palestinian officials say 1,417 Palestinians were killed, including 926
civilians.
But Israel says that the number killed is considerably lower, and that only
295 of the dead were civilians.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/07/200973020830886898.html
--
Technical Skill is the mastery of complexity, while Creativity is
the master of presence of mind
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