israelinsider: security: Israeli Military Again Charged With Use Of Indiscriminate Force

Israeli military again charged with use of indiscriminate force
By Ellis Shuman February 23, 2001


		02/21 Israel/ Palestine: Armed attacks on civilians condemned Human Rights Watch 02/11 The response of the Government of the State of Israel to the Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs 11/00 Overview of the violence in the territories - 29 September - 9 November 2000 Israeli Defense Forces 20/10/00 Excessive use of lethal force by Israeli security forces About Human Rights 10/00 Amnesty International Investigation (pdf file) Amnesty International

Israeli soldier pointing gun at Palestinian stone throwers in Hebron. (Reuters)




	Hebron Jews constantly under attack
	Official Israeli response to charges of excessive force
	Barak government "White Paper" on PA/PLO non-compliance Canadian Friends Israel Report
	Shoot to maim Village Voice


	Human Rights Watch
	Israel Defense Forces
	B'Teselem - Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
	Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Human Rights Watch organization this week accused the Israeli military of using "indiscriminate force in response to Palestinian gunfire, causing excessive civilian casualties." Research conducted by the New York-based organization in Hebron documented nine civilian deaths and many serious injuries caused by Israeli fire in that city.

"Israeli forces are causing civilian deaths by firing indiscriminately into Hebron's Palestinian neighborhoods," declared Joe Stork, Washington Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "The Israeli military is obligated to protect Palestinian civilians from heavy fire, and should take the necessary steps to halt this pattern of indiscriminate and excessive fire," Stork charged.

Human Rights Watch also deplored Palestinian shooting at Israeli settlements, and called on the Palestinian Authority to take measures to prevent armed attacks on Israeli civilians.

Even so, the brunt of the Human Rights Watch official statement centered on accusations of Israel's use of excessive force. No attempt was made to document the many incidents of Palestinians shooting at and injuring Israeli civilians and soldiers.

An example of the methodology of the Human Rights Watch report can be seen in the depiction of events that occurred on the night of February 17, 2001. "The IDF responded to Palestinian gunfire by targeting the Abu Snainah neighborhood of Hebron and a Palestinian collective farm located on the outskirts of Hebron… [killing] twenty-nine year old Issam al-Tawil as he was driving home with his parents, his brother and his sister-in-law." No explanation or background is given in the report as to the origins of the Palestinian gunfire, or if it resulted in Israeli casualties.

The report was not the first to raise accusations against IDF actions. Two months before, Human Rights Watch charged Israel with using "excessive and disproportionate force in dispersing demonstrations of unarmed Palestinians." An October report issued by Amnesty International claimed that Israel "resorted to excessive use of lethal force in circumstances in which neither the lives of the security forces nor others were in imminent danger."

No official Israeli reaction to this week's Human Right Watch accusations has yet been issued. In statements released in the past, the Israeli Defense Forces Spokesman stated that the IDF has always "employed maximal restraint in containing the violence. Standing IDF orders stipulate that the use of fire is called for only when fired upon, or in life-threatening situations."