Israel to Coordinate Soldiers’ Defense, AP at NY Times
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Special legal teams will defend Israeli soldiers against
potential war crimes charges stemming from civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip,
the prime minister said Sunday, promising the country would fully back those
who fought in the three-week offensive.
The move reflected growing concerns by Israel that officers could be subject
to international prosecution, despite the army's claims that Hamas militants
caused the civilian casualties by staging attacks from residential areas.
''The state of Israel will fully back those who acted on its behalf,'' Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert said. ''The soldiers and commanders who were sent on missions
in Gaza must know that they are safe from various tribunals.'' Speaking at the
weekly Cabinet meeting, Olmert said Israel's justice minister would lead a team
of senior officials to coordinate the legal defense of anyone involved in the offensive.
''That decision is not going to prevent all these organizations and countries to pursue
their efforts through legal means,'' Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said at talks
with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels. ''So there is no immunity even if the
decision was taken by the Israeli government.''
Malki is a member of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' government,
whose authority extends only to the West Bank after rival Hamas violently took over
Gaza in 2007.
Israel launched its 22-day offensive to try to halt Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel.
The assault killed 1,285 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, the Palestinian
Center for Human Rights counted. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were
also killed.
At talks Sunday in Cairo aimed at solidifying the truce, Hamas official Ayman Taha
said the Islamic group offered a one-year truce to Israel, including the reopening
of border crossings to allow vital supplies into Gaza. He said Israel offered an
18-month truce, which Hamas rejected. Israeli officials refused to comment.
A low-level delegation from Abbas' West Bank government was also in Cairo
for talks, but was not expected to meet with Hamas.
The European Union, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey appealed to Hamas and the
Palestinian Authority to form a unity government. Israel and Hamas are bitter
enemies and do not talk to each other, relying instead on Egyptian mediation.
In addition to the civilian death toll, Israel has faced international criticism for
its use of white phosphorous, and for shelling attacks that struck United
Nations schools and installations that were serving as shelters.
Although the use of phosphorous weapons to light up the night or to create
smoke screens masking troops is permitted by international law, Amnesty
International has accused Israel of committing a war crime by firing the
munitions in densely populated areas.
Israeli, Palestinian and international human rights groups have said they are
seeking to build a case that Israel violated the laws of war. The groups are
focusing on suspicions that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to
protect civilians. They also have criticized Hamas for using civilians as human
shields and firing rockets at civilian targets in Israel.
Israeli officials have said they took great efforts to avoid civilian casualties,
and accused Hamas of deliberately using mosques, schools and residential
neighborhoods for cover. Olmert angrily accused the ''international legal
arena'' of ''moral acrobatics'' by ignoring years of Palestinian rocket salvos
aimed at Israeli civilians. ''The state of Israel did everything in order to
avoid hitting civilians. I do not know of any military that is more moral,
fair and sensitive to civilians' lives,'' Olmert said.
In another precaution, Israel's military censor already has barred
publication of the names or pictures of battlefield officers from the
offensive. Israeli leaders have faced similar concerns in the past. In
2001, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was sued in Belgium over his
alleged role in a 1982 massacre in Lebanon's Sabra and Shatila
refugee camps. He was never convicted.
In 2005, a London court issued an arrest warrant for a retired Israeli
general for his role in the bulldozing of houses in a Gaza refugee camp.
The general ducked arrest by staying on his plane at London's Heathrow
airport and flying back to Israel. Another top official, Cabinet Minister Avi
Dichter, turned down an invitation to Britain out of concern that he could be
arrested for his role in the 2002 assassination of a senior Hamas militant
in Gaza.
The Israeli offensive ended with a temporary cease-fire last week, and
international mediators are trying to work out a longer-term arrangement.
Israel wants guarantees that Hamas will stop firing rockets and be prevented
from smuggling weapons into Gaza from neighboring Egypt.
In Brussels, EU foreign ministers on Sunday emphasized the need to stop
arms smuggling and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. They called
on Egypt to do more to halt the flow of arms to Gaza, while offering monitors
to help run the Egypt-Gaza crossing.
Israeli officials have said they are prepared to resume the offensive if rocket
attacks start up again. Israel also has demanded the release of an Israeli soldier
held by Hamas for more than two years as part of a long-term truce. Israeli
Cabinet minister Shaul Mofaz suggested that Israel would assassinate Hamas
leaders if the soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, is not released.
''I want to tell the leaders of Hamas, don't misunderstand us,'' Mofaz said.
''Until Schalit goes free, none of you will be able to walk freely on the streets
of Gaza.'' It was not clear whether Mofaz, a former armed forces chief, was
voicing official policy or giving his personal opinion.
After the comments, Palestinians fled from a dozen government buildings. Hamas
officials called for calm, and midlevel officials were back on the job, distributing
aid to victims whose homes were destroyed or damaged. Still, top Hamas leaders
remained out of sight, as they have since Israel launched the offensive last month.
------
Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak and Alfred de Montesquiou in Gaza City;
Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, West Bank, and Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed
to this report.