GENEVA: The United Nations expert on the Palestinian territories said in a report yesterday that there was “reason” to conclude that Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip was a war crime.
Richard Falk, an American-Jewish jurist, said in order to determine if the war was legal, it was necessary to assess if the Israeli forces could differentiate between civilian and military targets in Gaza.
“If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful, and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law,” Falk wrote in the report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council.
“On the basis of the preliminary evidence available, there is reason to reach this conclusion,” he said, pointing out that attacks were targeted at densely populated areas.
Furthermore, the death ratio of 1,434 Palestinians to 13 Israelis, he said, was “a basis for challenging the legality” of the operation against an “essentially defenseless society.”
Falk had focused his report on the legal issues arising from the 22-day war, as he had been unable to enter Gaza to assess the human rights situation on the ground.
He attempted a mission in December, but was detained by the Israelis at a facility close to Ben Gurion airport before being expelled a day after.
“Such a refusal to cooperate with a United Nations representative, not to mention the somewhat humiliating treatment accorded has set an unfortunate precedent with respect to the treatment of a representative of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and more generally of the United Nations itself,” he said.
Falk has been highly critical of Israel’s policies against the Palestinians, saying as early as December that they amounted to a crime against humanity.
He issued a similar call in a report released last week and said that if an enquiry found that Israeli soldiers and commanders were criminally responsible, the next logical step would be the setting up of a UN-sponsored “ad hoc criminal tribunal for occupied Gaza.”
Testimonies of Israeli soldiers painted a picture of shocking rules of engagement that allowed for the killing of Palestinian civilians during the Israeli war.
