Case Study of IDF Investigation

[gryfin]

Let's compare what Israel concludes in an investigation and what the Goldstone Report provides. Let's start with the Israeli investigation. This is an excerpt from a recently released Israeli government report designed to avoid War Crimes charges.

Before we proceed, there are some small details that the Israeli report omits: The dead in this incident are: Amal is 3 years old, Souad is 9 years old, Samar is 5 years old, and Hajja is 60 years old. All were carrying white flags.

(3) Amal, Souad, Samar, and Hajja Souad Abd Rabbo &
Adham Kamiz Nasir
108. This incident involved the alleged shooting of four Palestinian civilians on 7
January 2009 in the neighborhood of Izbat Abd Rabbo, and was reported to Israeli
authorities by several human rights organizations.51 The MAG referred the
complaint to a direct criminal investigation which was recently concluded. In the
course of this comprehensive investigation, the MPCID collected testimony from
eleven Palestinians who witnessed the events. Some of them were unable or
unwilling to testify before MPCID investigators, but provided detailed affidavits.
In addition, the investigators reviewed medical reports and death certificates, as
well as aerial photographs provided by an Israeli NGO, which helped identify the
different units involved in the incident. More than fifty commanders and soldiers
from these units were also questioned by the MPCID. Some were questioned
multiple times in order to clarify the circumstances of the case.
109. The evidence collected in the course of the investigation could not confirm the
description of the incident by the complainants, who claimed that a soldier
standing on a tank had opened fire at a group of civilians. The substantial
discrepancies between the complaint and the findings of the investigation—in
particular, the identity of the force and the sequence of events—led the MAG to
conclude that the evidence was insufficient to initiate criminal proceedings."

http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/1483B296-7439-4217-933C-653CD19CE859/0/GazaUpdateJuly2010.pdf

 

[gryfin]

Now, here is what's in the Goldstone Report:

770. The Mission visited the site of the shooting of Amal, Souad, Samar and Hajja Souad Abd Rabbo and interviewed an eyewitness, Mr. Khalid Abd Rabbo, on site. Khalid and Kawthar Abd Rabbo gave their testimony at the public hearing in Gaza on 28 June 2009. The Mission also reviewed sworn statements from two additional witnesses it was not able to interview in person.

771. The family of Khalid Abd Rabbo and his wife Kawthar lived on the ground floor of a four-storey building in the eastern part of Izbat Abd Rabbo, a neighbourhood east of Jabaliyah inhabited primarily by members of their extended family. Khalid Abd Rabbo’s parents and brothers with their families lived on the upper floors of the house. The residents of Izbat Abd Rabbo started hearing the sound of shooting and of the Israeli ground incursion in the evening of 3 January 2009. Khalid Abd Rabbo’s family decided to stay inside the house, all gathered on the ground floor, as they had done safely during previous Israeli incursions into the neighbourhood.

772. In the late morning of 7 January 2009, Israeli tanks moved onto the small piece of agricultural land in front of the house. Shortly after 12.30 p.m., the inhabitants of that part of Izbat Abd Rabbo heard megaphone messages telling all residents to leave. According to one witness's recollection, there had also been a radio message broadcast by the Israeli armed forces around 12.30 announcing that there would be a temporary cessation of shooting between 1 and 4 p.m. that day, during which time residents of the area were asked to walk to central Jabaliyah.

773. At about 12.50 p.m., Khalid Abd Rabbo, his wife Kawthar, their three daughters, Souad (aged 9), Samar (aged 5) and Amal (aged 3), and his mother, Hajja Souad Abd Rabbo, stepped out of the house, all of them carrying white flags. Less than 10 metres from the door was a tank, turned towards their house. Two soldiers were sitting on top of it having a snack (one was eating chips, the other chocolate, according to one of the witnesses). The family stood still, waiting for orders from the soldiers as to what they should do, but none was given. Without warning, a third soldier emerged from inside the tank and started shooting at the three girls and then also at their grandmother. Several bullets hit Souad in the chest, Amal in the stomach and Samar in the back. Hajja Souad was hit in the lower back and in the left arm.

774. Khalid and Kawthar Abd Rabbo carried their three daughters and mother back inside the house. There, they and the family members who had stayed inside tried to call for help by mobile phone. They also shouted for help and a neighbour, Sameeh Atwa Rasheed al-Sheikh, who was an ambulance driver and had his ambulance parked next to his house, decided to come to their help. He put on his ambulance crew clothes and asked his son to put on a fluorescent jacket. They had driven a few metres from their house to the immediate vicinity of the Abd Rabbo house when Israeli soldiers near the Abed Rabbo house ordered them to halt and get out of the vehicle. Sameeh al-Sheikh protested that he had heard cries for help from the Abd Rabbo family and intended to bring the wounded to hospital. The soldiers ordered him and his son to undress and then re-dress. They then ordered them to abandon the ambulance and to walk towards Jabaliyah, which they complied with. When the families returned to Izbat Abd Rabbo on 18 January, they found the ambulance was in the same place but had been crushed, probably by a tank.