MFA Newsletter
Examination of allegations by the Israel Defense Forces - 1 November 2
www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Examination_allegations_by_IDF_Oct_2009.htm27 incidents were forwarded to the MPIU for criminal investigation; anadditional 27 incidents are still being examined by the relevant operationalentities; the examination of 45 incidents has been completed with thedetermination that further measures were not necessary.Introduction1. The IDF has expressed is committed to examine every allegation relatingto prohibited actions carried out by its forces, in accordance with the army's commitment to act in conformity with the rules of international law andhas reiterated this commitment on many occasions. This commitment existseven in circumstances in which the enemy intentionally and systematicallyviolates these rules.2. Already during the course of the Operation, in light of claims that beganto be raised regarding IDF actions, the Military Advocate Generalrecommended that documentation be gathered on "incidents of
potentialconcern" that took place during the Operation, for use in conductinginvestigations of those incidents, as well as to counter claims made againstIsrael.3. When the Operation ended, an integrated process was begun to examine allcomplaints and claims, whether made directly to the IDF and the MilitaryAdvocate General's Office, or published in the media and via reports ofhuman rights organizations.General Staff Investigations4. Immediately following the Operation, the Chief of General Staff orderedthe establishment of five General Staff inquiries to examine various aspectsof Operation Cast Lead, in light of complaints and requests received by theIDF. The inquiries were led by officers holding the rank of colonel who werenot directly involved in the relevant chain of command. The five inquiriesdealt with the following subjects:A. Claims relating to firing at and damaging facilities of UN agencies andinternational organizations - This inquiry focused on a list of specificincidents
known to the IDF. Following the establishment of an investigativecommittee by the UN Secretary General, directed to examine damage to UNpersonnel and facilities during the Operation, and Israel's cooperation withthe investigative committee, this list was enlarged to include variousincidents that came within the committee's mandate. The findings maderegarding this inquiry were presented before the committee during the courseof its work.B. Claims relating to firing at medical facilities, vehicles, and teams -This inquiry focused on a list of specific incidents known to the IDF,including incidents that appeared in reports of Physicians for Human Rightsand of other NGO's.C. Claims relating to incidents in which there were a large number ofcasualties among civilians not participating in hostilities - This inquiry,too, focused on specific incidents, where there were claims of significantcasualties among civilians not involved in hostilities.D. Use of weapons containing phosphorous - This
inquiry was general innature, focusing on an examination of the issue from an overall perspective,and did not investigate specific incidents.E. Damage to infrastructure and destruction of buildings by ground forces -This inquiry also focused on the issue from a general perspective, and didnot investigate specific incidents.5. The first three inquiries, which focused on specific incidents, alsoexamined systemic aspects of the issues the inquiries dealt with, with theobjective of learning lessons from the concrete incidents.6. As is customary in the IDF in such operational inquiries, the officersmaking the inquiries acted independently and were authorized to receiverelevant material and to debrief all persons involved in the relevantincidents. They reviewed the complaints received by the IDF and stateauthorities relating to their inquiry, conducted interviews and collectedrelevant documents and material. It is noted that all military personnelsummoned were required to cooperate with
the officers conducting theinquiry, and that the inquiries received full cooperation. Given the natureof the inquiries, a soldier interviewed in this framework does not have theright to remain silent, as opposed to the practice in a criminalinvestigation. This aids in allowing inquiries to serve as an effectiveinvestigative tool.7. In the framework of the first three of the inquiries listed above, sometwenty-five specific incidents were examined. In some of the cases, it wasfound that there had been operational mistakes or mishaps in the course ofIDF actions. In one case, of unauthorized firing at a UN convoy, a soldierwas prosecuted in a disciplinary hearing for the offense of unlawful use ofa weapon. In another case, senior officers holding the rank of colonel andlieutenant colonel were prosecuted in a disciplinary hearing for firingartillery in violation of military orders (despite the deviation frommilitary orders, that incident did not result in casualties).8. The results of
the five inquires were presented to the Chief of GeneralStaff, and forwarded to the Military Advocate General for study to determineif additional examination of the incidents was warranted, or if additionalmeasures should be taken. Currently, an opinion is being completed relatingto these incidents by the Military Advocate General. The findings of theinquiries and the opinion of the Military Advocate General regarding themwill be forwarded to Israel's (civilian) Attorney General for his study andexamination.9. Based upon the findings of the inquires, significant measures are alreadybeing taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents. Among the measures isthe formulation of revised procedures for carrying out actions againstinfrastructure via the use of certain means of warfare.Other investigations10. Based upon various complaints and requests which were brought to theattention of the IDF, almost one hundred specific incidents were cited byvarious persons and entities. Of these -A.
Fourteen incidents were forwarded immediately to the Military PoliceInvestigation Unit (MPIU) which included allegations of looting, use ofcivilians as human shields, violent treatment of detainees, maltreatment ofdetainees, and an investigation that was opened following published reportsrelating to the seminar at the Yitzhak Rabin Preparatory Academy. Threeinvestigations ended without any findings, because complainants refused togive testimony, although the MPIU made requests to them through personsrepresenting them. One file was closed. One case led to the prosecution of asoldier for looting. That soldier was convicted and sentenced to seven and ahalf months imprisonment, a conditional sentence of seven and a half months,and demotion to the rank of private.B. Some twenty cases had been examined within the framework of the GeneralStaff inquiries, such that additional investigation of them was notwarranted. In these cases, as noted, the Military Advocate General ispresently
completing his opinion summarizing his opinion as to theirfindings.C. Some seventy-five incidents were forwarded to operational entities(Southern Command and the Air Force) for their initial investigations andanalysis.11. Of the incidents that were forwarded to the operational entities -A. Criminal investigations were opened regarding thirteen incidents, nine ofwhich dealt with especially grave claims of intentional attacks on civilianscarrying white flags or of flechette shells being aimed at civilians. TheMilitary Advocate General determined that, due to their severity, newinquires will not be made to examine these claims. Instead, the decision toopen MPIU investigations was made based on the existing material, includinginitial inquiries carried out in these matters.B. The handling of forty-five cases has ended, as the examination of theexisting material relating to these incidents not having established a basisto support the suspicion that the forces acted unlawfully.C. The other
incidents (some ten incidents) remain with the operationalentities for completion of the examination.The Goldstone Report and investigations12. The Goldstone Committee Report mentions thirty-six specific incidents.Many of the incidents included in the report were known to the IDF frompublished material, requests, and earlier reports. In effect, many of thoseincidents were forwarded some time ago for examination via the channelsdescribed above.13. Of the incidents mentioned in the Goldstone Report, twelve were broughtto the IDF's attention for the first time by the report. Most of them (ten)deal with damage to property. Two cases involved harm to civilians. Theseincidents which had not yet been examined were forwarded for investigation,in accordance with the investigation policy described above.Summary and figures14. To date, the status of the handling of all incidents in Operation CastLead that came to the IDF's attention is as follows: twenty-seven incidentswere forwarded to the
MPIU for criminal investigation. An additionaltwenty-seven incidents are still being examined by the relevant operationalentities; In relation to forty-five incidents, the examination has beencompleted with the determination that further measures were not necessary.15. MPIU criminal investigations are being conducted by twenty specialinvestigative teams that were established for this purpose. The work of theteams is being supervised by the MPIU commander and is being closelyaccompanied by the Office of the Military Advocate for Operational Matters,which is charged with the handling of files of this kind. The first stage ofeach investigation often involves questioning of Palestinian complainants,who are summoned for this purpose to Erez Crossing. In most of the files,the questioning of the complainants was completed some time ago (to date,some twenty-five complainants have been questioned), and the ongoinginvestigations focus on questioning the commanders and the soldiers of
therelevant units.