In the next installation of “How can the world screw Israel even more?” we have Human Rights Watch issuing a report accusing the IDF of war crimes over white phosphorus use in Gaza.
CNN, for some reason, loses that famed objectivity by not presenting the Israeli side until the tenth paragraph, and not at all in the bullet points of the article.
But once again, the world is holding Israel to a higher standard of behavior than her enemies, and suggesting, once more, that the IDF fight with its hands tied behind its back:
The report said white phosphorus munitions weren’t illegal when deployed properly in open areas, but it determined that the IDF repeatedly used them “unlawfully over populated neighborhoods, killing and wounding civilians and damaging civilian structures, including a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse and a hospital. ”
“First, the repeated use of air-burst white phosphorus in populated areas until the last days of the operation reveals a pattern or policy of conduct rather than incidental or accidental usage. Second, the IDF was well aware of the effects of white phosphorus and the dangers it poses to civilians. Third, the IDF failed to use safer available alternatives for smokescreens,” the report said.
The “safer alternatives” don’t give out as thick a smokescreen, and would risk IDF soldiers’ lives. But that’s fine with HRW, I’m sure.
The AP at least presents the Israeli side in the lead.
Israel fired white phosphorous shells indiscriminately over densely populated areas of Gaza in what amounts to a war crime, Human Rights Watch said in a report Wednesday.
The New York-based group called on the United Nations to launch an investigation into alleged violations of the rules of war, both by Israel and Hamas, during the three-week Gaza war.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that the shells were used in line with international law.
“The claim that smoke shells were used indiscriminately, or to threaten the civilian population, is baseless,” the military said in a statement.
International law permits the use of phosphorous weapons as flares or to create smoke screens masking the movement of troops.
But that’s about the end of the AP’s balance.
Reuters has an interesting tidbit that it chose to place at the very end of their article on the topic:
The group gave no precise casualty figures, citing the difficulty of determining in every case which burn injuries were caused by white phosphorous.
In other words, once again, HRW is relying on hearsay, supposition, and lack of evidence to accuse Israel of war crimes. And we all know how reliable Palestinian witnesses are. Just ask Mohammed al-Dura’s father who, with France2, perpetrated the biggest lie of modern times against Jews.