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The UN Human Rights Council: Latest Report on Operation Protective Edge

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Issued: 24 June 2015

The Media Review Network (MRN) has read with great interest the latest report by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on operation Protective Edge and Israel’s assault on the Gaza in July of 2014. The report states that investigators, Mary McGowan and Doudou Diene, were able to gather substantial information pointing to serious violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law by Israel and by Palestinian resistance fighters.

The Media Review Network (MRN) agrees that the human suffering in Gaza was unprecedented and will impact Palestinians for generations to come. What the world saw on television screens showed that the scale and impact of Israeli violence dwarfs anything allegedly done by Palestinians. The extent of Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian residential buildings and infrastructure had no military justification. In total 2251 Palestinians were killed, including 1462 civilians. This figure includes 551 children. More than 11 000 Palestinians were injured. 10% of this figure suffered permanent disabilities. In contrast 6 Israeli civilians and 60 Israeli soldiers died in fighting with Palestinian resistance. Israel carried out more than 6000 airstrikes, attacking residential and other buildings in Gaza, an area 345km² in extent and densely populated. (4500 Palestinians per sq.km.).  Israel’s military attack could not adequately distinguish between civilian and military objectives as required by international law.

The crimes committed by Israel were massive compared to anything done by the Palestinians. There can also be no moral equivalence between the legitimate self-defense and resistance of a people under occupation and the aggression of an occupier whose aim is to subject millions of people to its unopposed military tyranny. It is misleading and hypocritical to deny Palestinians the means to resist against Israeli occupation forces and then to condemn them for using unguided and inferior homemade weapons. Israel used and continues to use weapons of mass destruction to change the demographics of the region. Nothing is more legitimate than Palestinian resistance and nothing is more illegitimate than Israeli occupation.

This latest report calls for accountability. Israel’s reaction was predictable: condemned as being biased. Par for the course. The MRN calls on the international community to support the findings of the investigation and to hold Israel accountable. If not, another Israeli massacre is only a matter of time.

Issued By:

Ibrahim Vawda

Senior Researcher: Media Review Network