IDF: Amnesty report 'objectionable and questionable'

The IDF Spokesman's Office issued a statement yesterday, responding to an Amnesty International report on Operation Cast Lead, which was issued earlier this week and accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. The IDF statement said Amnesty International failed to properly recognise the reality prior to the operation of incessant rocket fire on the populations of the towns of the western Negev, and Israeli security concerns more generally. The statement also focused on the practice by Hamas of using the civilian population as a "human shield" in fighting in Gaza, which increased the risk of civilian casualties. The IDF, according to the statement, went to great lengths to warn the civilian populations of areas of Gaza before beginning attacks, and to make sure that a daily ceasefire period was observed to allow for the distribution of humanitarian aid. As such, the statement refers to aspects of the Amnesty report as "questionable and objectionable."

The Israeli defence establishment is understood to be deeply concerned at current events on the "legal front." Officials depict a situation in which groups and individuals sympathetic to the Palestinian cause attempt to use international law in order to prevent Israel from taking effective measures against terror groups committed to its destruction. The Amnesty report is only one of a number of criticisms this week of Israeli policy in Gaza by human rights groups. An investigation is currently under way by the UN Human Rights Council into events in Gaza earlier this year. In addition, Israel was criticised by the Red Cross and the Gisha organisation this week for the continued restrictions on entry and exit from Gaza. Israeli officials consider that insufficient attention is given to the difficulties faced by western military forces in fighting justified yet asymmetrical wars against terror groups, to the efforts made by the IDF to avoid civilian casualties, and to the internal investigation process in the military.

According to reports in the Israeli media this morning, the IDF has presented the Defence Ministry with a plan to ease restrictions on goods entering the Gaza Strip. According to the plan, which awaits the approval of the security cabinet and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, easing restrictions in intended to signal Israel's intention to assist in the re-stabilisation of the region and allow rebuilding efforts in the strip to commence.

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