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On 12 January 2009, one year ago today, nine Palestinian detainees were blindfolded, handcuffed, and transported to Israel's Erez border crossing. Several hours later, they were told to run into Gaza, to look straight ahead - and not to look back.
During their time at Erez, the nine were subjected to harsh interrogation and made to strip completely, one of them alleged, capping off more than a week of mistreatment described by other detainees as amounting to abandonment, desperation, suffocation and isolation. On the morning of 5 January, the Al-Atatra sandpits area 10 kilometers north of Gaza City, a largely agricultural neighborhood with orange and lemon orchards, suffered heavy aerial bombardment, which was followed by a ground incursion by Israeli troops. |
Richard Goldstone's UN inquiry met six people, members of the same extended family and residents of Al-Atatra, three of whom were direct witnesses and victims of the events that occurred in the aftermath of the ground incursion. Their testimonies are supported by those of three others, also residents of Al-Atatra, submitted to the mission by an NGO, the final report of the mission stated.
Goldstone's report quotes a witness who states that all 65 detainees from the original group taken from Al-Atatra to Israel were eventually released. Some members of his family were detained afterwards, but not in the original group of 65, according to the report. At the time of writing, three of these remain incarcerated in various detention facilities of the Israel Prison Service.
An unknown number remain in prison facing charges of being illegal combatants and members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. The first hearing was scheduled to be held in August in Israel.
The saga began on the morning of 5 January, shortly after the ground operations began, when an estimated 40 Israeli soldiers broke into several homes, including that of the witness, who is not named for "security reasons." He described to the Goldstone mission how 65 persons, several of whom were holding white flags, were made to assemble in the street.
The soldiers separated the men from the women. The men were made to line up against a wall and strip to their underwear. The witness indicated that any attempt to resist the soldiers was met with physical force, resulting in injuries.
Approximately 20 minutes later, they were taken into a house owned by Khalil Misbah Attar, where they were detained for a day, the men still separated from the women. The house had been struck by a number of missiles that morning and was badly damaged. Witnesses indicated that the house was at that time being used by the Israeli armed forces as a military base and sniper position.
At around 10 pm, all of the men were handcuffed behind their backs with plastic restraints and blindfolded. The men, 11 women and at least seven children below the age of 14 were taken on foot to Al-Kaklouk located south of the American School, one to two kilometres away. Many of the men remained in their underwear, exposed to the harsh winter weather (According to the BBC weather services, temperatures in the Gaza Strip in December and January, on average, vary from maximum 17° to minimum 7° Celsius.).
The witness told Goldstone that, on arrival at Al-Kaklouk, everyone was asked to clamber down into trenches, which had been dug to create a pit surrounded by a wall of sand, about three meters high. There were three such pits, each of which was surrounded by barbed wire. They were estimated to cover about 7,000 square meters ("six or seven donums") each.
He described how they were assembled in long single files, rather than massed together, and held in these pits, in the open air and exposed to cold temperatures for three days. Each pit accommodated approximately 20 people. They were forced to sit in stress positions, on their knees and leaning forward keeping their heads down.
They were monitored by soldiers and were not allowed to communicate with each other. They had no access to food or water on the first day of their internment, and were given a sip of water and an olive each to eat on the second and third days of their detention.
They had limited access to toilet facilities. The men had to wait for two to three hours after asking before they were allowed to leave the pits to relieve themselves and sometimes were able to remove their blindfolds for the purpose. A few of them were told to relieve themselves inside the pit, behind a small mount of sand. They stated that it was culturally too difficult for the women to seek permission to relieve themselves and they did not ask.
AD/01 states that some tanks were inside the pit with at least one tank positioned at the eastern end. While the people were held there, the tank facing inland each day sporadically fired on the houses along the road opposite the site.
They recounted that on 8 January, the women and children were released and told to go to Jabaliyah. The men were transferred to military barracks near the northern border, identified as the Izokim Barracks.
At the Izokim barracks, the men were detained in pits similar to but smaller than those in al-Kaklouk. They continued to be exposed to the cold temperature, rain and the constant sound of tank movement overhead. The witnesses have described to the Mission the experience of continued and prolonged exposure to the sound of this tank movement as disorienting and creating feelings of futility, isolation, helplessness and abject terror.
The men were held handcuffed and in their underwear in the Izokim barracks overnight. They were questioned intermittently, mostly on details and locations of Qassam rockets, the tunnels and the whereabouts of Hamas parliamentarians. According to statements made to the mission, they were beaten during the interrogation and threatened with death and being run over by tanks. The mission notes that the nature and types of questions asked remained the same throughout the interrogations in various detention facilities.
On 9 January, the men were taken to a prison in Israel, indentified by one witness as the Negev prison, where they remained until 12 January. They were detained in one section of the prison, alternating between being held in isolation and in shared cells, and were subjected to harsh interrogation, often by two people dressed in civilian clothes. Interrogation focused on the identification of Hamas tunnels and arms as well as the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit.
They recounted that they were shackled to a chair with plastic strips and interrogated several times, with AD/01B stating that he was made to strip naked during an interrogation. He was kept in solitary confinement where a soldier would come intermittently during the day, and slam the cell door open and shut, exposing him to extremely cold temperatures. One stated that during the first interrogation he was verbally threatened and in the subsequent two he was blindfolded and beaten. He was made to stand up and face the wall, following which his face was smashed against the wall several times before he was severely beaten (kicked and punched) on his back and buttocks.
Requests for clothing were denied. During the interrogation the detainees were informed that they were “illegal combatants” and that they had no protection under the Geneva Conventions. They had limited access to food, water and sanitation. Their morning meal was a bottle-cap-sized piece of bread with a drop of marmalade. The evening meal, if provided, consisted of rotting sardines and cheese on mouldy bread.
One described the experience of being detained, stripped and shackled as one of abandonment, desperation, suffocation and isolation. He continues to experience discomfort where he was beaten and is unable to sit and sleep comfortably.
Another stated that while in Negev prison an additional group arrived. They were kept separately in the second section. The exact number of detainees in the second group is unknown, although one indicated to the mission that the second group was smaller.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253366
Goldstone's report quotes a witness who states that all 65 detainees from the original group taken from Al-Atatra to Israel were eventually released. Some members of his family were detained afterwards, but not in the original group of 65, according to the report. At the time of writing, three of these remain incarcerated in various detention facilities of the Israel Prison Service.
An unknown number remain in prison facing charges of being illegal combatants and members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. The first hearing was scheduled to be held in August in Israel.
The saga began on the morning of 5 January, shortly after the ground operations began, when an estimated 40 Israeli soldiers broke into several homes, including that of the witness, who is not named for "security reasons." He described to the Goldstone mission how 65 persons, several of whom were holding white flags, were made to assemble in the street.
The soldiers separated the men from the women. The men were made to line up against a wall and strip to their underwear. The witness indicated that any attempt to resist the soldiers was met with physical force, resulting in injuries.
Approximately 20 minutes later, they were taken into a house owned by Khalil Misbah Attar, where they were detained for a day, the men still separated from the women. The house had been struck by a number of missiles that morning and was badly damaged. Witnesses indicated that the house was at that time being used by the Israeli armed forces as a military base and sniper position.
At around 10 pm, all of the men were handcuffed behind their backs with plastic restraints and blindfolded. The men, 11 women and at least seven children below the age of 14 were taken on foot to Al-Kaklouk located south of the American School, one to two kilometres away. Many of the men remained in their underwear, exposed to the harsh winter weather (According to the BBC weather services, temperatures in the Gaza Strip in December and January, on average, vary from maximum 17° to minimum 7° Celsius.).
The witness told Goldstone that, on arrival at Al-Kaklouk, everyone was asked to clamber down into trenches, which had been dug to create a pit surrounded by a wall of sand, about three meters high. There were three such pits, each of which was surrounded by barbed wire. They were estimated to cover about 7,000 square meters ("six or seven donums") each.
He described how they were assembled in long single files, rather than massed together, and held in these pits, in the open air and exposed to cold temperatures for three days. Each pit accommodated approximately 20 people. They were forced to sit in stress positions, on their knees and leaning forward keeping their heads down.
They were monitored by soldiers and were not allowed to communicate with each other. They had no access to food or water on the first day of their internment, and were given a sip of water and an olive each to eat on the second and third days of their detention.
They had limited access to toilet facilities. The men had to wait for two to three hours after asking before they were allowed to leave the pits to relieve themselves and sometimes were able to remove their blindfolds for the purpose. A few of them were told to relieve themselves inside the pit, behind a small mount of sand. They stated that it was culturally too difficult for the women to seek permission to relieve themselves and they did not ask.
AD/01 states that some tanks were inside the pit with at least one tank positioned at the eastern end. While the people were held there, the tank facing inland each day sporadically fired on the houses along the road opposite the site.
They recounted that on 8 January, the women and children were released and told to go to Jabaliyah. The men were transferred to military barracks near the northern border, identified as the Izokim Barracks.
At the Izokim barracks, the men were detained in pits similar to but smaller than those in al-Kaklouk. They continued to be exposed to the cold temperature, rain and the constant sound of tank movement overhead. The witnesses have described to the Mission the experience of continued and prolonged exposure to the sound of this tank movement as disorienting and creating feelings of futility, isolation, helplessness and abject terror.
The men were held handcuffed and in their underwear in the Izokim barracks overnight. They were questioned intermittently, mostly on details and locations of Qassam rockets, the tunnels and the whereabouts of Hamas parliamentarians. According to statements made to the mission, they were beaten during the interrogation and threatened with death and being run over by tanks. The mission notes that the nature and types of questions asked remained the same throughout the interrogations in various detention facilities.
On 9 January, the men were taken to a prison in Israel, indentified by one witness as the Negev prison, where they remained until 12 January. They were detained in one section of the prison, alternating between being held in isolation and in shared cells, and were subjected to harsh interrogation, often by two people dressed in civilian clothes. Interrogation focused on the identification of Hamas tunnels and arms as well as the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit.
They recounted that they were shackled to a chair with plastic strips and interrogated several times, with AD/01B stating that he was made to strip naked during an interrogation. He was kept in solitary confinement where a soldier would come intermittently during the day, and slam the cell door open and shut, exposing him to extremely cold temperatures. One stated that during the first interrogation he was verbally threatened and in the subsequent two he was blindfolded and beaten. He was made to stand up and face the wall, following which his face was smashed against the wall several times before he was severely beaten (kicked and punched) on his back and buttocks.
Requests for clothing were denied. During the interrogation the detainees were informed that they were “illegal combatants” and that they had no protection under the Geneva Conventions. They had limited access to food, water and sanitation. Their morning meal was a bottle-cap-sized piece of bread with a drop of marmalade. The evening meal, if provided, consisted of rotting sardines and cheese on mouldy bread.
One described the experience of being detained, stripped and shackled as one of abandonment, desperation, suffocation and isolation. He continues to experience discomfort where he was beaten and is unable to sit and sleep comfortably.
Another stated that while in Negev prison an additional group arrived. They were kept separately in the second section. The exact number of detainees in the second group is unknown, although one indicated to the mission that the second group was smaller.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253366
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Part 16 of a series recounting the findings of South African jurist Richard Goldstone's UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.
On 11 January 2009, Hamas deputy Moussa Abu Marzouq stated that as of a result of Israel's then-ongoing assault on Gaza, captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit "may have been wounded, and he may not have been. The subject no longer interests us." "We are not interested in his well-being at all, and we are not giving him any special guard since he is as good as a cat or less," Abu Marzouq added, in an apparent effort to intimidate Israeli forces who were still pounding the coastal enclave for the 18th day straight. |
Shalit, a member of the Israeli military, was captured in June 2006 when a squad drawn from three groups – the Popular Resistance Committees, the Al-Qassam Brigades and the until then unknown Army of Islam – excavated a tunnel under the Gaza-Israel border and attacked the Kerem Shalom military base inside Israel, blowing up a tank, killing two soldiers and capturing a third, Corporal Shalit.
Among the subjects of Richard Goldstone's UN fact-finding mission was Shalit's continued detention, as well as some of the immediate consequences for uninvolved Palestinians.
In reaction to Shalit's capture, the report notes, Israel conducted a number of targeted assassinations of alleged fighters belonging to Hamas and other groups; arrested eight Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers, 26 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and other West Bank leaders; attacked key civilian infrastructure in Gaza, such as the main power plant, the main bridge in central Gaza and PA offices; tightened the economic isolation; and carried out major armed thrusts into Gaza for the first time since August 2005.
Goldstone's mission asked the de facto government in Gaza to confirm the status of Shalit. In their reply, which the mission says it considered to be unsatisfactory, the Gaza government denied being involved in any way with the capture and detention of the Israeli soldier and stated that they are not in possession of any information regarding his current status.
The report notes that negotiations, through intermediaries, continue with regard to the exchange of prisoners between the Israeli government and Hamas representatives, and that in October 2008, a Hamas spokesman stated that "the Shalit case is dependent on prisoners swap ... He will never be released if the Israeli occupation does not release Palestinian prisoners whom Hamas wants free ..."
During its investigations in Gaza, Goldstone's mission heard testimonies indicating that during the military operations of December 2008 – January 2009, Israeli soldiers questioned captured Palestinians, some of whom were used as human shields, about Shalit's whereabouts.
In addition, the soldier's father, Noam Shalit, appeared before the mission at its public hearing in Geneva on 6 July 2009. He informed the investigators of his extreme concern about the condition of his son, who has not been able to communicate with his family and has not been allowed to receive Red Cross visits. Shalit expressed concern about the health and psychological status of his son after more than three years of captivity and appealed for his release.
Addressing the mission directly, Shalit stated: "I know that this mission is determined to give the victims of the recent conflict in Gaza an opportunity to make their voice heard. So – with your kind permission – I would like to use this distinguished forum – the United Nations – first to address you and then to address the people of Gaza and, in particular, the people holding my son Gilad.
"Honorable members of the mission, a few weeks ago you were in Gaza. You met the Hamas hierarchy. According to the Ma'an News Agency, [Gaza Prime Minister] Ismail Haniyeh welcomed your mission deploring what he viewed as Israel's grave violations of international law. The same news agency reported that the mission thanked Mr Haniyeh for his cooperation in facilitating its work. Sirs and Madam, if this cooperation is indeed genuine then the same Hamas hierarchy should honor your eventual findings – whatever they may be.
"And I have no doubt that after you read my written submissions, you will determine that my son's violent abduction and his continuing detention subject to extortion is, equally, a violation of international law. After you hear the cassette recording of my son's voice – released on the first anniversary of his capture – you will be shocked by the callous cynicism of his captors and the grief that his words have caused me and my family. These are words that he was forced to read. You will also find, without a doubt, that the refusal to allow him access to the Red Cross, if not a war crime is, at least, a gross act of inhumanity and an aggravating circumstance.
"Members of the mission, the same Geneva Convention of 1949 which this mission will use to judge the legality of the Israeli attack on Gaza forbids the holding to ransom of an individual – whether he be soldier or otherwise. The same Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by which the Palestinian Authority seeks to charge the Israeli hierarchy condemns the Hamas leadership no less for the crime of taking hostages – soldiers or otherwise. The same court in The Hague where the Palestinian Authority pursues [former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert may equally investigate [Hamas leader-in-exile Khalid] Masha'al who – with his Jordanian nationality – falls squarely within the jurisdiction of this institution.
"But what is the purpose of this honorable mission? Is it really to lay the basis for a future criminal prosecution? Or is it, perhaps, to effect reconciliation? Know that the minds and hearts of the Israeli people are with my son on a daily basis. His release – which it is within your power to promote – will bring about such reconciliation.
'I would like to address the Palestinian victims'
"And now, with you permission, I would like to address the Palestinian victims of Operation Cast Lead. People of Gaza, I do not come before this mission as a representative of the Israeli state. I come neither to condemn nor to justify the recent Israeli operations in Gaza. I am not a politician nor do I care for politics. I am a civilian and the father of three.
"I last saw my son Gilad on Wednesday, 21 June 2006 when he returned to the military service which his country obliged him to perform by law. A few days later, his patrol was sabotaged by armed Palestinians, two of his fellow soldiers were killed before his very eyes and he was abducted. He was 19 years old at the time. A shy boy with a nervous smile and a studious disposition. Like many his age, all that occupied him were his studies and sport.
"To all those who know him, he is gentle and sensitive to the suffering of others – a trait he has shown from an early age. At the age of 11, his teacher asked him to write a fable. His drawings and narrative have now been published. I am giving the mission a copy of this book. You can read it if you wish. The story of a shark and a fish who became friends against all the odds. Need I say more? Suffice to say that the will for peace and security can overcome fear and distrust.
"People of Gaza, do not overlook the circumstances of my son's service nor of his capture. He was not attacking your territory. He was not even in your territory. He was operating within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel – protecting the integrity of what was supposed to be a border of peace after a complete Israeli withdrawal.
"Your leaders say Gilad is a prisoner of war. I say he is an abductee. The difference is in the interpretation of the law. But even if your leaders hold my son as a prisoner of war – why will they not allow him the privileges which attach to such a status? Gilad has no contact with the outside world. Your leaders refuse him access to the International Committee of the Red Cross – the same Red Cross which regularly visits your people held captive in Israeli prisons. The same Red Cross which protests the violations of their rights to the Israeli government.
"People of Gaza, your leaders are fighting to return your sons and daughters from captivity. This is an understandable desire. You may agree with such a policy. Many of you, however, will realize that the fate of an entire prison population cannot depend on the ransom of one young man.
"Your leaders have committed a crime with respect to my son. They hold him to ransom and, by the same token, they hold all of you to ransom. For three years now, you have been held hostage to the inflexible demands of your leaders and their unwillingness to compromise. They issue demands which, I fear, the Israeli government will never meet. My son's fate is the means through which your leaders distract your attention from the destruction they have brought upon you. Is this humane? Are these the acts of an honorable regime?
"People of Gaza, do not ignore the root cause of our mutual suffering. You know that the injustice done to my son was the trigger for war. You also know that the release of my son is the key to peace and the lifting of the Israeli commercial blockade. A small gesture and a little effort on both sides can relieve the misery of many.
"President [Nicolas] Sarkozy of France recently told [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu that your leaders would not release Gilad until Israel freed prisoners. I am not a party to talks on prisoner release. I am not consulted on numbers and I have no say in the conduct of negotiations. Like many of you, all that concerns me is that the one I love returns home. Do those of you who are waiting for the return of those close to you care for the politics? Do you care for the posturing of your leaders? Or do you – like me – wish that this war and what caused it would never have happened?
"But if a prisoner exchange need be the course we are forced to adopt, let reason and moderation overcome excessive demands. Let not a stalemate in the negotiations prevail over the will of the people. Let not stubbornness triumph over compassion.
"People of Gaza – like many of you, we are suffering the consequences of the decisions and failures of others. Like many of you, my family and I have been caught up in a web of violence. Like many of you, I pay a heavy price on a daily basis. I know that you are short of food. Some of your loved ones have been killed – women and children, young and innocent.
"I understand your distress and sympathize with your grief. I have visited your wounded from Beit Hanoun and have witnessed, at first hand, the unnecessary suffering and the unspeakable atrocity of war. But even so, I do not compare suffering. As a parent speaking to a multitude of parents – I ask you to understand my family's anguish. As the days go by, we begin to despair. We despair of the day when we will see our son again. I know neither where he is held nor how he fares. Whether he is injured or whether he is even alive.
"And finally to the people holding my son: I urge you to release my son. You have the power to act with grace. Do it for the respectability that you wish the international community to accord you. Do it because you see yourselves as statesmen acting with humane intent. Do it for the sake of the respect you say you show this mission. Do it not for gain but do it, I beg you, because it is the just and right thing to do. But most important of all, do it for the peace and welfare of your own people."
Legal findings and conclusions
In its final analysis, the Goldstone report states that the four-member team "is of the opinion that, as a soldier who belongs to the Israeli armed forces and who was captured during an enemy incursion into Israel, Gilad Shalit meets the requirements for prisoner-of-war status under the Third Geneva Convention. As such, he should be protected, treated humanely and be allowed external communication as appropriate according to that Convention. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) should be allowed to visit him without delay. Information about his condition should also be provided promptly to his family."
In the report's section on recommendations for Palestinian armed groups, Goldstone urges:
(a ) that Palestinian armed groups should undertake forthwith to respect international humanitarian law, in particular by renouncing attacks on Israeli civilians and civilian objects, and take all feasible precautionary measures to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians during hostilities;
(b) that Palestinian armed groups who hold Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in detention should release him on humanitarian grounds. Pending such release they should recognize his status as prisoner of war, treat him as such, and allow him Red Cross visits.
The mission also said it was concerned by declarations made by various Israeli officials who have indicated the intention of maintaining the blockade until Shalit's release, considering "that this would constitute collective punishment of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip."
Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that easing the blockade is linked to Shalit's release. In February 2009, it appeared that the Israeli government had dropped its demand for Palestinian fighters to release Shalit before it would end the blockade. However, Eli Yishai, the then deputy prime minister, stated shortly thereafter that "Israel is facing a serious humanitarian crisis, and it is called Gilad Shalit, and... until he is returned home, not only will we not allow more cargo to reach the residents of Gaza, we will even diminish it."
Israel's then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, also stated that "we will not reopen the border crossings [into Gaza] and assist Hamas so long as Gilad Shalit is in their brutal prison." Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated that position as recently as July 2009.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253369
Among the subjects of Richard Goldstone's UN fact-finding mission was Shalit's continued detention, as well as some of the immediate consequences for uninvolved Palestinians.
In reaction to Shalit's capture, the report notes, Israel conducted a number of targeted assassinations of alleged fighters belonging to Hamas and other groups; arrested eight Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers, 26 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and other West Bank leaders; attacked key civilian infrastructure in Gaza, such as the main power plant, the main bridge in central Gaza and PA offices; tightened the economic isolation; and carried out major armed thrusts into Gaza for the first time since August 2005.
Goldstone's mission asked the de facto government in Gaza to confirm the status of Shalit. In their reply, which the mission says it considered to be unsatisfactory, the Gaza government denied being involved in any way with the capture and detention of the Israeli soldier and stated that they are not in possession of any information regarding his current status.
The report notes that negotiations, through intermediaries, continue with regard to the exchange of prisoners between the Israeli government and Hamas representatives, and that in October 2008, a Hamas spokesman stated that "the Shalit case is dependent on prisoners swap ... He will never be released if the Israeli occupation does not release Palestinian prisoners whom Hamas wants free ..."
During its investigations in Gaza, Goldstone's mission heard testimonies indicating that during the military operations of December 2008 – January 2009, Israeli soldiers questioned captured Palestinians, some of whom were used as human shields, about Shalit's whereabouts.
In addition, the soldier's father, Noam Shalit, appeared before the mission at its public hearing in Geneva on 6 July 2009. He informed the investigators of his extreme concern about the condition of his son, who has not been able to communicate with his family and has not been allowed to receive Red Cross visits. Shalit expressed concern about the health and psychological status of his son after more than three years of captivity and appealed for his release.
Addressing the mission directly, Shalit stated: "I know that this mission is determined to give the victims of the recent conflict in Gaza an opportunity to make their voice heard. So – with your kind permission – I would like to use this distinguished forum – the United Nations – first to address you and then to address the people of Gaza and, in particular, the people holding my son Gilad.
"Honorable members of the mission, a few weeks ago you were in Gaza. You met the Hamas hierarchy. According to the Ma'an News Agency, [Gaza Prime Minister] Ismail Haniyeh welcomed your mission deploring what he viewed as Israel's grave violations of international law. The same news agency reported that the mission thanked Mr Haniyeh for his cooperation in facilitating its work. Sirs and Madam, if this cooperation is indeed genuine then the same Hamas hierarchy should honor your eventual findings – whatever they may be.
"And I have no doubt that after you read my written submissions, you will determine that my son's violent abduction and his continuing detention subject to extortion is, equally, a violation of international law. After you hear the cassette recording of my son's voice – released on the first anniversary of his capture – you will be shocked by the callous cynicism of his captors and the grief that his words have caused me and my family. These are words that he was forced to read. You will also find, without a doubt, that the refusal to allow him access to the Red Cross, if not a war crime is, at least, a gross act of inhumanity and an aggravating circumstance.
"Members of the mission, the same Geneva Convention of 1949 which this mission will use to judge the legality of the Israeli attack on Gaza forbids the holding to ransom of an individual – whether he be soldier or otherwise. The same Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by which the Palestinian Authority seeks to charge the Israeli hierarchy condemns the Hamas leadership no less for the crime of taking hostages – soldiers or otherwise. The same court in The Hague where the Palestinian Authority pursues [former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert may equally investigate [Hamas leader-in-exile Khalid] Masha'al who – with his Jordanian nationality – falls squarely within the jurisdiction of this institution.
"But what is the purpose of this honorable mission? Is it really to lay the basis for a future criminal prosecution? Or is it, perhaps, to effect reconciliation? Know that the minds and hearts of the Israeli people are with my son on a daily basis. His release – which it is within your power to promote – will bring about such reconciliation.
'I would like to address the Palestinian victims'
"And now, with you permission, I would like to address the Palestinian victims of Operation Cast Lead. People of Gaza, I do not come before this mission as a representative of the Israeli state. I come neither to condemn nor to justify the recent Israeli operations in Gaza. I am not a politician nor do I care for politics. I am a civilian and the father of three.
"I last saw my son Gilad on Wednesday, 21 June 2006 when he returned to the military service which his country obliged him to perform by law. A few days later, his patrol was sabotaged by armed Palestinians, two of his fellow soldiers were killed before his very eyes and he was abducted. He was 19 years old at the time. A shy boy with a nervous smile and a studious disposition. Like many his age, all that occupied him were his studies and sport.
"To all those who know him, he is gentle and sensitive to the suffering of others – a trait he has shown from an early age. At the age of 11, his teacher asked him to write a fable. His drawings and narrative have now been published. I am giving the mission a copy of this book. You can read it if you wish. The story of a shark and a fish who became friends against all the odds. Need I say more? Suffice to say that the will for peace and security can overcome fear and distrust.
"People of Gaza, do not overlook the circumstances of my son's service nor of his capture. He was not attacking your territory. He was not even in your territory. He was operating within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel – protecting the integrity of what was supposed to be a border of peace after a complete Israeli withdrawal.
"Your leaders say Gilad is a prisoner of war. I say he is an abductee. The difference is in the interpretation of the law. But even if your leaders hold my son as a prisoner of war – why will they not allow him the privileges which attach to such a status? Gilad has no contact with the outside world. Your leaders refuse him access to the International Committee of the Red Cross – the same Red Cross which regularly visits your people held captive in Israeli prisons. The same Red Cross which protests the violations of their rights to the Israeli government.
"People of Gaza, your leaders are fighting to return your sons and daughters from captivity. This is an understandable desire. You may agree with such a policy. Many of you, however, will realize that the fate of an entire prison population cannot depend on the ransom of one young man.
"Your leaders have committed a crime with respect to my son. They hold him to ransom and, by the same token, they hold all of you to ransom. For three years now, you have been held hostage to the inflexible demands of your leaders and their unwillingness to compromise. They issue demands which, I fear, the Israeli government will never meet. My son's fate is the means through which your leaders distract your attention from the destruction they have brought upon you. Is this humane? Are these the acts of an honorable regime?
"People of Gaza, do not ignore the root cause of our mutual suffering. You know that the injustice done to my son was the trigger for war. You also know that the release of my son is the key to peace and the lifting of the Israeli commercial blockade. A small gesture and a little effort on both sides can relieve the misery of many.
"President [Nicolas] Sarkozy of France recently told [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu that your leaders would not release Gilad until Israel freed prisoners. I am not a party to talks on prisoner release. I am not consulted on numbers and I have no say in the conduct of negotiations. Like many of you, all that concerns me is that the one I love returns home. Do those of you who are waiting for the return of those close to you care for the politics? Do you care for the posturing of your leaders? Or do you – like me – wish that this war and what caused it would never have happened?
"But if a prisoner exchange need be the course we are forced to adopt, let reason and moderation overcome excessive demands. Let not a stalemate in the negotiations prevail over the will of the people. Let not stubbornness triumph over compassion.
"People of Gaza – like many of you, we are suffering the consequences of the decisions and failures of others. Like many of you, my family and I have been caught up in a web of violence. Like many of you, I pay a heavy price on a daily basis. I know that you are short of food. Some of your loved ones have been killed – women and children, young and innocent.
"I understand your distress and sympathize with your grief. I have visited your wounded from Beit Hanoun and have witnessed, at first hand, the unnecessary suffering and the unspeakable atrocity of war. But even so, I do not compare suffering. As a parent speaking to a multitude of parents – I ask you to understand my family's anguish. As the days go by, we begin to despair. We despair of the day when we will see our son again. I know neither where he is held nor how he fares. Whether he is injured or whether he is even alive.
"And finally to the people holding my son: I urge you to release my son. You have the power to act with grace. Do it for the respectability that you wish the international community to accord you. Do it because you see yourselves as statesmen acting with humane intent. Do it for the sake of the respect you say you show this mission. Do it not for gain but do it, I beg you, because it is the just and right thing to do. But most important of all, do it for the peace and welfare of your own people."
Legal findings and conclusions
In its final analysis, the Goldstone report states that the four-member team "is of the opinion that, as a soldier who belongs to the Israeli armed forces and who was captured during an enemy incursion into Israel, Gilad Shalit meets the requirements for prisoner-of-war status under the Third Geneva Convention. As such, he should be protected, treated humanely and be allowed external communication as appropriate according to that Convention. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) should be allowed to visit him without delay. Information about his condition should also be provided promptly to his family."
In the report's section on recommendations for Palestinian armed groups, Goldstone urges:
(a ) that Palestinian armed groups should undertake forthwith to respect international humanitarian law, in particular by renouncing attacks on Israeli civilians and civilian objects, and take all feasible precautionary measures to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians during hostilities;
(b) that Palestinian armed groups who hold Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in detention should release him on humanitarian grounds. Pending such release they should recognize his status as prisoner of war, treat him as such, and allow him Red Cross visits.
The mission also said it was concerned by declarations made by various Israeli officials who have indicated the intention of maintaining the blockade until Shalit's release, considering "that this would constitute collective punishment of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip."
Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that easing the blockade is linked to Shalit's release. In February 2009, it appeared that the Israeli government had dropped its demand for Palestinian fighters to release Shalit before it would end the blockade. However, Eli Yishai, the then deputy prime minister, stated shortly thereafter that "Israel is facing a serious humanitarian crisis, and it is called Gilad Shalit, and... until he is returned home, not only will we not allow more cargo to reach the residents of Gaza, we will even diminish it."
Israel's then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, also stated that "we will not reopen the border crossings [into Gaza] and assist Hamas so long as Gilad Shalit is in their brutal prison." Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated that position as recently as July 2009.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253369
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Part 15 of a series recounting the findings of South African jurist Richard Goldstone's UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.
At midnight on 10 January 2009, Israeli soldiers violently entered the home of Mahmoud Al-Ajrami, where he and his wife were sheltering underneath the stairs. Soldiers threw a grenade and entered the house shooting. What Al-Ajrami says transpired over the next 48 hours left him with two fractured vertebrae as a result of beatings, and was one of four cases in which civilians were used as human shields that Richard Goldstone's UN inquiry investigated. These civilians were allegedly forced to enter houses at gunpoint in front of or, in one case, instead of soldiers. Two incidents took place east of Jabaliya. |
The case of Mahmoud Al-Ajrami
Al-Ajrami, a former foreign minister, testified in Gaza City last June. He resigned when Hamas took over and has not worked since. He, his wife and 15-year-old daughter lived in a house west of Beit Lahiya. His home was directly hit for the first time on 2 or 3 January 2009, according to him by tank shells and by missiles fired by Apache helicopters, which seriously damaged external and internal walls.
"I don't know why the Israeli army did what it did, especially since I was in a civilian house. There wasn't one bullet fired from my house or from the neighboring houses," he recounted. "And I asked this question to one of the officers later ... this question still challenges me."
Tanks that came into the area were initially positioned around 500 meters north of his house. As he told Goldstone, Al-Ajrami had decided not to leave because of his father's experience of leaving his home in Israel and not being able to return. But he decided that this was proving too difficult for his daughter. He called a taxi and his daughter moved to the house of an uncle in a safer area.
"The soldiers came in while firing and guns shooting. ... At one point we were facing them, so I started talking to them in a loud voice, telling them, 'we are here, we are the owners of this house, we are civilians,' and my wife was saying more or less the same. ..."
An officer ordered Al-Ajrami to lift his robe (he was in nightclothes) and turn around. "I was there with my wife, wearing pajamas and bathrobes, because this was January and you know it's very cold, and these are the coldest days of the year in Palestine," he said.
"One of them – actually there were about 20 to 25 soldiers inside the house, and like I said, we were in the corner, although we tried to get closer to them – and one of them yelled at us in broken Arabic and I couldn't understand him ... So when I got closer to him, he pointed his gun at me with the laser beam, of course, pointing at me, so I moved my hands and said, 'please, just stop, stop, don't shoot. I don't understand what you need, what you want.' ...
"His first question was 'what are you doing here,' and I said, 'this is my house, this is my home and it's quite natural to be at home, and I don't know, frankly speaking, what are you doing here, because my presence here is natural, your presence is not natural.' So he insulted me, using extremely crude words and he said, 'you have to remove your shirt, turn around.' I did, and he – maybe he expected me to be carrying a bomb ... Then he asked me to move ahead. ...
They were then taken to a neighboring house where soldiers took his ID card and checked it on a laptop.
"And then he said, 'well, you're going to stay with us' and he started then asking the questions, 'I'm gonna give you five minutes and then you will have to tell us in detail where is [captured Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit. Where are the Hamas tunnels located and where are the Hamas militants, where are the rockets' and so on."
Al-Ajrami responded that he could not provide that information because he did not know, that he was previously a member of the Fatah administration. "So he said, 'well, I'll come back to you.' ... He told me, 'if you don't speak we will take you and we will kill you,' and I remember exactly what he said, 'if you don't talk we will take you and shoot you,' and he repeated the same sentence over and over again. So I said, 'I don't have any information. I don't know what I can tell you.'"
According to Goldstone, the soldier responded: "You are Hamas; Hamas killed all Fatah and others in Gaza, so you must be Hamas." Al-Ajrami insisted that he was a civilian. The officer told him again that he had five minutes in which to give him information or he would be shot. Five minutes later, Al-Ajrami again responded that he did not know anything about the questions asked.
"So he said, 'what do you do.' I said, 'I work as the assistant of the minister.' He said 'which minister,' I said 'the foreign minister.' So he said, 'then you're the assistant of Dr Mahmoud Al-Zahar, the [de facto government] foreign affairs minister.' I said, 'well, I worked with all of the ministers of foreign affairs.' We stopped there and then he said 'you're a Hamas member' and I said, 'no, this is my job as a diplomat at the foreign affairs minister. I don't belong to any party.'
"Then he said, well, 'you don't want to speak,' and I said, 'no,' so he yelled at me and he was extremely angry. He started insulting me, he insulted my mother, using words, extremely offensive words that nobody can imagine. So I said, 'look, you can take me wherever you want, I can't do anything about it. You're an army, you have your forces, your tanks are stationed here ...'
Al-Ajlami was handcuffed and blindfolded. Two or three soldiers took him by the shoulders and forced him to walk in front of them. His wife tried to go with him but they pushed her back into the room. It was by now around 2am. "My wife had her hands tied, was hanging to my robe, and she said 'please take me with him' and she was screaming and she said, 'I'm not going to leave him, take me with him.' One of the soldiers pushed her back, so she fell on the ground and he said, 'no, you are not to move.' So I left.
'I thought they were going to shoot me'
The soldiers took Al-Ajlami up to the second floor of the building and threw him off. He landed on rubble and fainted. When he came to, he had severe pain in his right side and had difficulty breathing. He found out later that he had broken four ribs and he had severe bruising down his right leg.
"I didn't expect that I was going to be thrown off the second floor, and of course, it goes without saying, I couldn't do anything about it. ...
It was raining and still dark. Four soldiers forced him to stand. He was moaning with the pain but did not want them to hear. "I didn't want to scream. I tried to hold myself, I tried to restrain myself. They put me up and I had to walk but I was in extreme pain. I realized that I could not walk; that the right side, there were a lot of bruises and I saw them later when I reached the hospital."
The soldiers pushed him against a wall and walked away. He thought they were going to shoot him. He was still blindfolded. "I tried to look from underneath the blindfold, I saw the soldier's feet, and I heard [from a witness] later on that when they brought him to join me, he saw them holding their guns and pointing their guns at me and he thought that they were going to shoot me and shoot him also."
Early the next morning, the soldiers took him and another man (whom he subsequently found out to be his neighbor Abbas Halawa) and forced them to walk in front of them. Al-Ajrami was blindfolded and a gun was held to the back of his head. He thinks that there were around 25 soldiers behind him and the other Palestinian man. Having walked in this way for a while, both he and the other man were forced to enter several houses with the soldiers taking cover behind them. They did not find anyone in any of the houses.
"I had a lot of difficulty walking and it was rough road. It was difficult to walk on that road and my movements were extremely difficult and we were blindfolded, our hands were tied. This is in addition to the acute pain I was feeling. I spoke to one of the Israeli soldiers who was behind me, and of course, we could feel the guns on our heads, also on the broken ribs on my back, and I told him I'm in extreme pain and he insulted me and he said 'just walk, go, go,' he said.
"Now, there were both of us, Abbas Halawa and myself and we kept walking, and when we got closer to a house, and because we could still see that, they would just push us ahead, meaning that they were hiding behind us. And on more than six or seven occasions they started shooting. So whenever they heard a strange noise and it was windy, because it was wintertime, they would start shooting. And we went on like this until we reached a a military location where there were a lot of tanks, also machine guns, soldiers."
After searching several houses, the soldiers, Al-Ajrami, and Halawa walked north toward Dogit, a former settlement. He could hear the movement of tanks and see tank positions. Both men were forced to sit on the ground. They were left there without food, water or blankets. "They threw us on the floor next to each other with Mr Abbas Halawa and we stayed like this until the morning."
At around 10am, soldiers took Halawa for interrogation. "I kept just writhing and writing because of the pain, it was extremely cold. I was trembling and shivering. ... It was around 11:00am and the soldiers came and took me. I told them don't touch my right arm because I'm in extreme pain and I could not stand up, so they carried me."
During that and the following day, Al-Ajrami was interrogated, once by a senior officer. "I realized that I was face to face with an Israeli officer, blond guy, blue eyes, in his 50s. I think he's a general, I didn't pay attention to his rank. And I felt, somehow, questioning myself why I was put that way, as if I were a terrorist. ... And he said 'look me in the eyes, I'm an intelligence officer, and I can understand whether you lie or not because we study psychology.' I said, 'I also have a PhD in mental health,' and he just nodded and I think he didn't feel happy about it, because he replied in a very, very harsh manner.
"And he repeated the same questions, again, and when I gave him the same reply again, he said that Hamas killed everybody and I laughed and he asked me about the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit and the rockets and what have you. ... I said, 'why are you treating me that way.' He asked me to approach. I said, 'I can't.' He said, 'why.' I said, 'because one of your soldiers [threw] me off the second floor.' He asked the soldiers to drive me forward where there was a boulder of debris and all soldiers there and tanks were coming and going and rockets were falling from the aircraft and the atmosphere was quite tense.
"And he said, 'this is your house' and I looked at the sea, to see that my house was there because it was on a hill. 'Yes,' I told him ... he said that it was a beautiful house. I said, 'your soldiers destroyed it,' and he said, 'we explicitly did that so as to give you a lesson because you elected the number one enemy of Israel, and I said, what's my fault, what's my guilt.' He said, 'as long as you are alive, you should know that the IDF is there and it is coming.'
"Then there was another officer who intervened and said 'take him away' and they brought me back to the ground, and that interrogation was repeated four or five times through the day and night and I was just in the open without any food or water and without any medication, whatsoever. And the next day the interrogation was repeated with me."
On the second day, Al-Ajlami was taken to the edge of the camp and told to walk back south into Gaza City. "I walked southward toward my house and it was about 1pm and about 100 meters from that point, one of the soldiers took scissors and he cut the plastic handcuffs and they took away the blindfold and they put it in his pocket and then he asked me to go south, not to my house, and to head toward Jabaliya. I said, well, and at that moment I [thought] I was breathing my last because of thirst. I asked for some water. One of the soldiers gave me a small bottle of water and it had a black thread around it, and he said 'take it' and I had some water.
Then I said, 'where should I go, should I go alone.' He said, yes, 'but I'm among your soldiers and this is just like an execution process.' The other insulted me at least 'go to hell and get lost;' this is the least I can say."
Al-Ajlami was able to reach the outskirts of the city and was helped by a stranger to reach a relative's home, from where he was taken to Ash-Shifa Hospital. On returning to his house, he found it ransacked and vandalized. Many items of value had been stolen, including jewelry and electronic equipment.
The case of Majdi Abd Rabbo
Al-Ajrami, a former foreign minister, testified in Gaza City last June. He resigned when Hamas took over and has not worked since. He, his wife and 15-year-old daughter lived in a house west of Beit Lahiya. His home was directly hit for the first time on 2 or 3 January 2009, according to him by tank shells and by missiles fired by Apache helicopters, which seriously damaged external and internal walls.
"I don't know why the Israeli army did what it did, especially since I was in a civilian house. There wasn't one bullet fired from my house or from the neighboring houses," he recounted. "And I asked this question to one of the officers later ... this question still challenges me."
Tanks that came into the area were initially positioned around 500 meters north of his house. As he told Goldstone, Al-Ajrami had decided not to leave because of his father's experience of leaving his home in Israel and not being able to return. But he decided that this was proving too difficult for his daughter. He called a taxi and his daughter moved to the house of an uncle in a safer area.
"The soldiers came in while firing and guns shooting. ... At one point we were facing them, so I started talking to them in a loud voice, telling them, 'we are here, we are the owners of this house, we are civilians,' and my wife was saying more or less the same. ..."
An officer ordered Al-Ajrami to lift his robe (he was in nightclothes) and turn around. "I was there with my wife, wearing pajamas and bathrobes, because this was January and you know it's very cold, and these are the coldest days of the year in Palestine," he said.
"One of them – actually there were about 20 to 25 soldiers inside the house, and like I said, we were in the corner, although we tried to get closer to them – and one of them yelled at us in broken Arabic and I couldn't understand him ... So when I got closer to him, he pointed his gun at me with the laser beam, of course, pointing at me, so I moved my hands and said, 'please, just stop, stop, don't shoot. I don't understand what you need, what you want.' ...
"His first question was 'what are you doing here,' and I said, 'this is my house, this is my home and it's quite natural to be at home, and I don't know, frankly speaking, what are you doing here, because my presence here is natural, your presence is not natural.' So he insulted me, using extremely crude words and he said, 'you have to remove your shirt, turn around.' I did, and he – maybe he expected me to be carrying a bomb ... Then he asked me to move ahead. ...
They were then taken to a neighboring house where soldiers took his ID card and checked it on a laptop.
"And then he said, 'well, you're going to stay with us' and he started then asking the questions, 'I'm gonna give you five minutes and then you will have to tell us in detail where is [captured Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit. Where are the Hamas tunnels located and where are the Hamas militants, where are the rockets' and so on."
Al-Ajrami responded that he could not provide that information because he did not know, that he was previously a member of the Fatah administration. "So he said, 'well, I'll come back to you.' ... He told me, 'if you don't speak we will take you and we will kill you,' and I remember exactly what he said, 'if you don't talk we will take you and shoot you,' and he repeated the same sentence over and over again. So I said, 'I don't have any information. I don't know what I can tell you.'"
According to Goldstone, the soldier responded: "You are Hamas; Hamas killed all Fatah and others in Gaza, so you must be Hamas." Al-Ajrami insisted that he was a civilian. The officer told him again that he had five minutes in which to give him information or he would be shot. Five minutes later, Al-Ajrami again responded that he did not know anything about the questions asked.
"So he said, 'what do you do.' I said, 'I work as the assistant of the minister.' He said 'which minister,' I said 'the foreign minister.' So he said, 'then you're the assistant of Dr Mahmoud Al-Zahar, the [de facto government] foreign affairs minister.' I said, 'well, I worked with all of the ministers of foreign affairs.' We stopped there and then he said 'you're a Hamas member' and I said, 'no, this is my job as a diplomat at the foreign affairs minister. I don't belong to any party.'
"Then he said, well, 'you don't want to speak,' and I said, 'no,' so he yelled at me and he was extremely angry. He started insulting me, he insulted my mother, using words, extremely offensive words that nobody can imagine. So I said, 'look, you can take me wherever you want, I can't do anything about it. You're an army, you have your forces, your tanks are stationed here ...'
Al-Ajlami was handcuffed and blindfolded. Two or three soldiers took him by the shoulders and forced him to walk in front of them. His wife tried to go with him but they pushed her back into the room. It was by now around 2am. "My wife had her hands tied, was hanging to my robe, and she said 'please take me with him' and she was screaming and she said, 'I'm not going to leave him, take me with him.' One of the soldiers pushed her back, so she fell on the ground and he said, 'no, you are not to move.' So I left.
'I thought they were going to shoot me'
The soldiers took Al-Ajlami up to the second floor of the building and threw him off. He landed on rubble and fainted. When he came to, he had severe pain in his right side and had difficulty breathing. He found out later that he had broken four ribs and he had severe bruising down his right leg.
"I didn't expect that I was going to be thrown off the second floor, and of course, it goes without saying, I couldn't do anything about it. ...
It was raining and still dark. Four soldiers forced him to stand. He was moaning with the pain but did not want them to hear. "I didn't want to scream. I tried to hold myself, I tried to restrain myself. They put me up and I had to walk but I was in extreme pain. I realized that I could not walk; that the right side, there were a lot of bruises and I saw them later when I reached the hospital."
The soldiers pushed him against a wall and walked away. He thought they were going to shoot him. He was still blindfolded. "I tried to look from underneath the blindfold, I saw the soldier's feet, and I heard [from a witness] later on that when they brought him to join me, he saw them holding their guns and pointing their guns at me and he thought that they were going to shoot me and shoot him also."
Early the next morning, the soldiers took him and another man (whom he subsequently found out to be his neighbor Abbas Halawa) and forced them to walk in front of them. Al-Ajrami was blindfolded and a gun was held to the back of his head. He thinks that there were around 25 soldiers behind him and the other Palestinian man. Having walked in this way for a while, both he and the other man were forced to enter several houses with the soldiers taking cover behind them. They did not find anyone in any of the houses.
"I had a lot of difficulty walking and it was rough road. It was difficult to walk on that road and my movements were extremely difficult and we were blindfolded, our hands were tied. This is in addition to the acute pain I was feeling. I spoke to one of the Israeli soldiers who was behind me, and of course, we could feel the guns on our heads, also on the broken ribs on my back, and I told him I'm in extreme pain and he insulted me and he said 'just walk, go, go,' he said.
"Now, there were both of us, Abbas Halawa and myself and we kept walking, and when we got closer to a house, and because we could still see that, they would just push us ahead, meaning that they were hiding behind us. And on more than six or seven occasions they started shooting. So whenever they heard a strange noise and it was windy, because it was wintertime, they would start shooting. And we went on like this until we reached a a military location where there were a lot of tanks, also machine guns, soldiers."
After searching several houses, the soldiers, Al-Ajrami, and Halawa walked north toward Dogit, a former settlement. He could hear the movement of tanks and see tank positions. Both men were forced to sit on the ground. They were left there without food, water or blankets. "They threw us on the floor next to each other with Mr Abbas Halawa and we stayed like this until the morning."
At around 10am, soldiers took Halawa for interrogation. "I kept just writhing and writing because of the pain, it was extremely cold. I was trembling and shivering. ... It was around 11:00am and the soldiers came and took me. I told them don't touch my right arm because I'm in extreme pain and I could not stand up, so they carried me."
During that and the following day, Al-Ajrami was interrogated, once by a senior officer. "I realized that I was face to face with an Israeli officer, blond guy, blue eyes, in his 50s. I think he's a general, I didn't pay attention to his rank. And I felt, somehow, questioning myself why I was put that way, as if I were a terrorist. ... And he said 'look me in the eyes, I'm an intelligence officer, and I can understand whether you lie or not because we study psychology.' I said, 'I also have a PhD in mental health,' and he just nodded and I think he didn't feel happy about it, because he replied in a very, very harsh manner.
"And he repeated the same questions, again, and when I gave him the same reply again, he said that Hamas killed everybody and I laughed and he asked me about the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit and the rockets and what have you. ... I said, 'why are you treating me that way.' He asked me to approach. I said, 'I can't.' He said, 'why.' I said, 'because one of your soldiers [threw] me off the second floor.' He asked the soldiers to drive me forward where there was a boulder of debris and all soldiers there and tanks were coming and going and rockets were falling from the aircraft and the atmosphere was quite tense.
"And he said, 'this is your house' and I looked at the sea, to see that my house was there because it was on a hill. 'Yes,' I told him ... he said that it was a beautiful house. I said, 'your soldiers destroyed it,' and he said, 'we explicitly did that so as to give you a lesson because you elected the number one enemy of Israel, and I said, what's my fault, what's my guilt.' He said, 'as long as you are alive, you should know that the IDF is there and it is coming.'
"Then there was another officer who intervened and said 'take him away' and they brought me back to the ground, and that interrogation was repeated four or five times through the day and night and I was just in the open without any food or water and without any medication, whatsoever. And the next day the interrogation was repeated with me."
On the second day, Al-Ajlami was taken to the edge of the camp and told to walk back south into Gaza City. "I walked southward toward my house and it was about 1pm and about 100 meters from that point, one of the soldiers took scissors and he cut the plastic handcuffs and they took away the blindfold and they put it in his pocket and then he asked me to go south, not to my house, and to head toward Jabaliya. I said, well, and at that moment I [thought] I was breathing my last because of thirst. I asked for some water. One of the soldiers gave me a small bottle of water and it had a black thread around it, and he said 'take it' and I had some water.
Then I said, 'where should I go, should I go alone.' He said, yes, 'but I'm among your soldiers and this is just like an execution process.' The other insulted me at least 'go to hell and get lost;' this is the least I can say."
Al-Ajlami was able to reach the outskirts of the city and was helped by a stranger to reach a relative's home, from where he was taken to Ash-Shifa Hospital. On returning to his house, he found it ransacked and vandalized. Many items of value had been stolen, including jewelry and electronic equipment.
The case of Majdi Abd Rabbo
Majdi Abd Rabbo, a man aged 39 at the time of the incident, is married and the father of five children. He is PA intelligence officer.
Abd Rabbo recounted that, at around 9:30am on 5 January 2009, he heard loud banging on the outer door of the house. He asked who was at the door and someone responded in Arabic, ordering him to open the door. He opened the door and saw in front of him a handcuffed Palestinian man, who was intentionally not identified by name in Goldstone's report.
A group of around 15 soldiers stood behind the Palestinian man. One of the soldiers was holding a weapon to the man's head. The soldiers pushed the man to one side and four soldiers pointed their weapons at Abd Rabbo. They ordered him to undress down to his underwear. He was then told to dress again and they pushed him into the house.
The soldiers ordered him to call his children one by one. He started with his eldest son, aged 16, who was ordered by the soldiers to strip naked. The same process was followed with the two other sons, aged nine and eight. He then called his daughter, aged 14, who was told to press her clothes to her body and turn around. His wife, who was holding their baby daughter, was also told to press her clothes to her body, and then to take the baby's trousers off.
Abd Rabbo stated that the soldiers then forced him to walk in front of them as they searched the house, room by room, holding a firearm to his head. They questioned him about the house behind his. He told them that the house was empty and the owner had been absent for four years working in the Sudan. There was a small gap between the two houses, but they were joined at the roof. The soldiers gave him a sledgehammer, the kind used to break stones, and told him to break a hole through the dividing wall. This took around 15 minutes.
From the roof, the soldiers entered the house, pushing Abd Rabbo ahead of them down the stairs while they watched over his shoulders. They had descended only a few steps, however, when the soldiers apparently detected some movement, started shouting, pulled Abd Rabbo back and rushed back into his house over the roof. He heard some gun shots.
The soldiers ran out into the street, forcing Abd Rabbo and the other man with them while they were shooting. Both were taken into an adjacent mosque, where there were a large number of soldiers with military equipment. They were forced to sit down and then handcuffed.
The soldiers used the raised area of the mosque, from where the imam leads prayers, to fire at Abd Rabbo's house and the houses next to it. He shouted at the soldiers to stop, as his family was still in the house. A soldier told him to shut up or they would shoot him. The shooting continued for around 30 minutes. After a lull, the soldiers warned that there would be a huge explosion and, indeed, about three minutes later there was a huge explosion. The explosion was followed by intensive gunfire and artillery shells.
In the meantime, he had been forced to break a hole in the wall of the mosque and into the neighboring house. He had then been interrogated about his knowledge of Hamas and the location of tunnels. Subsequently, he was taken and detained together with neighbors, men and women, in another house.
When the shooting stopped, soldiers came to fetch him. He was taken to the road near his house. There were numerous soldiers standing next to it, including some officers. He saw a senior officer talking to the soldiers who raided his house, and the officer then came to speak to him, through an interpreter.
'This is not my job, I don't want to die'
The soldier said that they had killed the fighters in the house and told him to go inside and come back with their clothes and weapons. Abd Rabbo protested, saying that he just wanted to find out if his family was safe. The officer told him to obey their orders if he wanted to see his family again. He refused to go, and was kicked and beaten by soldiers with their weapons until he gave in.
He approached the house from the street. The entrance was destroyed and blocked by rubble. He went back to the officer and told him that he could not get in. The officer told him to go through the roof instead. He went into his own house, which he found empty, except for a soldier. This reinforced his anxiety about the fate of his family. At this point, there was no major damage to his house. He crossed the roof and went down the stairs into the other house. He was scared that the fighters would shoot at him and shouted, "I am a Palestinian, a neighbor. I am being forced to come into this house."
In a room at the bottom of the stairs he found three armed young men wearing military camouflage and headbands of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. They pointed their weapons at him. He told them that the soldiers thought they had been killed and had sent him to check. He said he was helpless as they had taken his wife and children. The men told him they had seen everything, and asked him to go back and tell the soldiers what he had seen.
He went back outside, again crossing over the roof of his house. As he approached the soldiers, they pointed their weapons at him and ordered him to stop, strip naked and turn around. After he dressed again, he told them what he had seen. Initially, the soldiers did not believe him. They asked how he knew that they were Hamas militants and he explained about their headbands. The soldiers asked about their weapons. He replied that they were carrying Kalashnikovs. The officer told him that, if he was lying, he would be shot dead.
He was handcuffed and taken back to the family house for detention. At around 3pm, he heard gunfire for around 30 minutes. The soldiers came back for him and took him to the same officer. This time he noticed different soldiers present with different military equipment. Through the translator, the officer told him that they had killed the militants, and told him to go in and bring back their bodies. Again he refused, saying "this is not my job, I don't want to die."
He lied to them, saying that the three militants had told him that if he came back, they would kill him. The officer told him that, as they had already killed the militants, he should not worry. He added that they had fired two missiles into the house, which must have killed the militants. When he still resisted, he was beaten and kicked again, until he went into the house via the roof again.
He found the house very badly damaged. The bottom part of the stairs was missing. He again went in shouting, to alert the militants if they were still alive. He found them in the same room as before. Two were unharmed. The third was badly injured, covered in blood, with wounds to his shoulder and abdomen. They asked him what was going on outside and he told them that the area was fully occupied and the soldiers had taken numerous hostages, including his family.
The wounded man gave him his name and asked him to tell his family what had happened. Abd Rabbo promised to do so if he survived and later did so. Another told him to tell the Israeli officer that, if he was a real man, he would come to them himself.
Abd Rabbo returned to the soldiers, who again forced him to strip naked before they approached him. He told the officer that two of the militants were unharmed. The officer swore at him and accused him of lying. Abd Rabbo then repeated the message from the militant, at which the officer and four other soldiers assaulted him with their weapons and insulted him.
The officer asked for his ID card. He replied that it was in his house but gave him the number. The officer checked it via an electronic device. Three minutes later the officer asked him if it was true that he worked with the head of the PA's intelligence services, which he confirmed. The officer asked him if he was a supporter of Mahmoud Abbas and a Fatah affiliate. He said he was.
The soldiers brought Abd Rabbo a megaphone and told him to use it to call the fighters. He initially refused but did so under threat. As instructed, he told them to surrender, that the Red Cross was present and they could hand themselves over. There was no response.
By then, night had fallen. Abd Rabbo was again handcuffed and taken back to the house. Thirty to forty minutes later, he heard shooting and a huge explosion. Soldiers came to tell him that they had bombed the house and ordered him to go in again and check on the fighters.
Israeli forces had floodlit the area. Abd Rabbo found both his and the neighbor's house very badly damaged. He could not use the roof of his house to enter the neighbor's house, as it had collapsed. He went back to the soldiers, who again made him strip, this time to his underwear. He asked where his family was and said that he could not reach the fighters because of the damage to the houses. He accused the soldiers of destroying his house. The officer said that they had only hit the neighbor's house. He was then handcuffed.
Until this time, Abd Rabbo had been given no food or water, and it was very cold. After a while, his handcuffs were removed, he was told to dress and taken back to the family house, to the room where he found that other people were being held. All the men and boys in this room were handcuffed and their ankles were tied. A soldier came with some drinking glasses and smashed them at the entrance to the room where they were being held. After smashing the glasses, the soldier left again.
Abd Rabbo had developed a severe headache. Another detainee, who spoke Hebrew, called a soldier to say that he was sick and needed medicine. The soldier told him to keep quiet or he would be shot. A woman tied a scarf around his head to ease the pain.
At around 7am, he was taken back to the soldiers outside. He was questioned about the number of fighters in the house. He confirmed that he had seen three.
Two young Palestinian men from the neighborhood were brought over. A soldier gave them a camera and told them to go into the house and take photos of the fighters. The two tried to refuse, and were beaten and kicked. About 10 minutes later, they came back with photos of the three fighters. Two appeared to be dead, under rubble. The third was also trapped by rubble but appeared to be alive and was still holding his firearm. A soldier showed Abd Rabbo the photos and asked if these were the same people. He confirmed they were.
A soldier took the megaphone and told the fighters that they had 15 minutes to surrender, that the neighborhood was under the control of Israeli forces and that, if they did not surrender, they would hit the house with an airstrike.
Fifteen minutes later, a soldier came with a dog, which had electronic gear attached to its body and what looked like a camera on its head. Another soldier had a small laptop. The handler sent the dog into the house. A few minutes later, shots were heard and the dog came running out. It had been shot and subsequently died.
At around 10:30am on 6 January 2009, a bulldozer arrived and started to level the house, demolishing everything in its way. Abd Rabbo watched it demolish his own house and the neighbor's house. He and the two young men were told to go back to the family house. They heard shooting.
At around 3pm, Abd Rabbo was taken back close to the site of his and his neighbor's house. He told the Goldstone mission that he saw the bodies of the three fighters lying on the ground in the rubble of the house.
The soldiers then forced him to enter other houses on the street as they searched them. All were empty. The soldiers forced him to go into a house alone initially and, when he came out, sent in a dog. During the house searches he managed to find some water to drink, the first drink he had had for two days. At midnight, the soldiers took him back to the family house.
On 7 January, all the men and boys were taken from the family house and transferred to the house of a cousin of Abd Rabbo's in the same neighborhood. There were more than 100 men and boys, including members of his extended family, aged between 15 and 70. The women were being held elsewhere. Abd Rabbo's immediate family members were not there, and he learnt that no one had seen them. He remained extremely anxious about their safety.
At around 11pm, the men and boys in that house were told that they were going to be released, and that they should all walk west toward Jabaliya, without turning left or right, on threat of being shot. They found Izbat Abd Rabbo Street severely damaged. Abd Rabbo went to his sister's house in Jabaliya, where he was reunited with his wife and children.
Abd Rabbo told the Goldstone mission that he and his family were traumatized by what had happened to them and did not know what to do now, having lost their home and all their possessions. His children were all suffering psychologically and performing poorly at school. Five months later, Majdi Abd Rabbo was still having nightmares.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253109
Abd Rabbo recounted that, at around 9:30am on 5 January 2009, he heard loud banging on the outer door of the house. He asked who was at the door and someone responded in Arabic, ordering him to open the door. He opened the door and saw in front of him a handcuffed Palestinian man, who was intentionally not identified by name in Goldstone's report.
A group of around 15 soldiers stood behind the Palestinian man. One of the soldiers was holding a weapon to the man's head. The soldiers pushed the man to one side and four soldiers pointed their weapons at Abd Rabbo. They ordered him to undress down to his underwear. He was then told to dress again and they pushed him into the house.
The soldiers ordered him to call his children one by one. He started with his eldest son, aged 16, who was ordered by the soldiers to strip naked. The same process was followed with the two other sons, aged nine and eight. He then called his daughter, aged 14, who was told to press her clothes to her body and turn around. His wife, who was holding their baby daughter, was also told to press her clothes to her body, and then to take the baby's trousers off.
Abd Rabbo stated that the soldiers then forced him to walk in front of them as they searched the house, room by room, holding a firearm to his head. They questioned him about the house behind his. He told them that the house was empty and the owner had been absent for four years working in the Sudan. There was a small gap between the two houses, but they were joined at the roof. The soldiers gave him a sledgehammer, the kind used to break stones, and told him to break a hole through the dividing wall. This took around 15 minutes.
From the roof, the soldiers entered the house, pushing Abd Rabbo ahead of them down the stairs while they watched over his shoulders. They had descended only a few steps, however, when the soldiers apparently detected some movement, started shouting, pulled Abd Rabbo back and rushed back into his house over the roof. He heard some gun shots.
The soldiers ran out into the street, forcing Abd Rabbo and the other man with them while they were shooting. Both were taken into an adjacent mosque, where there were a large number of soldiers with military equipment. They were forced to sit down and then handcuffed.
The soldiers used the raised area of the mosque, from where the imam leads prayers, to fire at Abd Rabbo's house and the houses next to it. He shouted at the soldiers to stop, as his family was still in the house. A soldier told him to shut up or they would shoot him. The shooting continued for around 30 minutes. After a lull, the soldiers warned that there would be a huge explosion and, indeed, about three minutes later there was a huge explosion. The explosion was followed by intensive gunfire and artillery shells.
In the meantime, he had been forced to break a hole in the wall of the mosque and into the neighboring house. He had then been interrogated about his knowledge of Hamas and the location of tunnels. Subsequently, he was taken and detained together with neighbors, men and women, in another house.
When the shooting stopped, soldiers came to fetch him. He was taken to the road near his house. There were numerous soldiers standing next to it, including some officers. He saw a senior officer talking to the soldiers who raided his house, and the officer then came to speak to him, through an interpreter.
'This is not my job, I don't want to die'
The soldier said that they had killed the fighters in the house and told him to go inside and come back with their clothes and weapons. Abd Rabbo protested, saying that he just wanted to find out if his family was safe. The officer told him to obey their orders if he wanted to see his family again. He refused to go, and was kicked and beaten by soldiers with their weapons until he gave in.
He approached the house from the street. The entrance was destroyed and blocked by rubble. He went back to the officer and told him that he could not get in. The officer told him to go through the roof instead. He went into his own house, which he found empty, except for a soldier. This reinforced his anxiety about the fate of his family. At this point, there was no major damage to his house. He crossed the roof and went down the stairs into the other house. He was scared that the fighters would shoot at him and shouted, "I am a Palestinian, a neighbor. I am being forced to come into this house."
In a room at the bottom of the stairs he found three armed young men wearing military camouflage and headbands of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. They pointed their weapons at him. He told them that the soldiers thought they had been killed and had sent him to check. He said he was helpless as they had taken his wife and children. The men told him they had seen everything, and asked him to go back and tell the soldiers what he had seen.
He went back outside, again crossing over the roof of his house. As he approached the soldiers, they pointed their weapons at him and ordered him to stop, strip naked and turn around. After he dressed again, he told them what he had seen. Initially, the soldiers did not believe him. They asked how he knew that they were Hamas militants and he explained about their headbands. The soldiers asked about their weapons. He replied that they were carrying Kalashnikovs. The officer told him that, if he was lying, he would be shot dead.
He was handcuffed and taken back to the family house for detention. At around 3pm, he heard gunfire for around 30 minutes. The soldiers came back for him and took him to the same officer. This time he noticed different soldiers present with different military equipment. Through the translator, the officer told him that they had killed the militants, and told him to go in and bring back their bodies. Again he refused, saying "this is not my job, I don't want to die."
He lied to them, saying that the three militants had told him that if he came back, they would kill him. The officer told him that, as they had already killed the militants, he should not worry. He added that they had fired two missiles into the house, which must have killed the militants. When he still resisted, he was beaten and kicked again, until he went into the house via the roof again.
He found the house very badly damaged. The bottom part of the stairs was missing. He again went in shouting, to alert the militants if they were still alive. He found them in the same room as before. Two were unharmed. The third was badly injured, covered in blood, with wounds to his shoulder and abdomen. They asked him what was going on outside and he told them that the area was fully occupied and the soldiers had taken numerous hostages, including his family.
The wounded man gave him his name and asked him to tell his family what had happened. Abd Rabbo promised to do so if he survived and later did so. Another told him to tell the Israeli officer that, if he was a real man, he would come to them himself.
Abd Rabbo returned to the soldiers, who again forced him to strip naked before they approached him. He told the officer that two of the militants were unharmed. The officer swore at him and accused him of lying. Abd Rabbo then repeated the message from the militant, at which the officer and four other soldiers assaulted him with their weapons and insulted him.
The officer asked for his ID card. He replied that it was in his house but gave him the number. The officer checked it via an electronic device. Three minutes later the officer asked him if it was true that he worked with the head of the PA's intelligence services, which he confirmed. The officer asked him if he was a supporter of Mahmoud Abbas and a Fatah affiliate. He said he was.
The soldiers brought Abd Rabbo a megaphone and told him to use it to call the fighters. He initially refused but did so under threat. As instructed, he told them to surrender, that the Red Cross was present and they could hand themselves over. There was no response.
By then, night had fallen. Abd Rabbo was again handcuffed and taken back to the house. Thirty to forty minutes later, he heard shooting and a huge explosion. Soldiers came to tell him that they had bombed the house and ordered him to go in again and check on the fighters.
Israeli forces had floodlit the area. Abd Rabbo found both his and the neighbor's house very badly damaged. He could not use the roof of his house to enter the neighbor's house, as it had collapsed. He went back to the soldiers, who again made him strip, this time to his underwear. He asked where his family was and said that he could not reach the fighters because of the damage to the houses. He accused the soldiers of destroying his house. The officer said that they had only hit the neighbor's house. He was then handcuffed.
Until this time, Abd Rabbo had been given no food or water, and it was very cold. After a while, his handcuffs were removed, he was told to dress and taken back to the family house, to the room where he found that other people were being held. All the men and boys in this room were handcuffed and their ankles were tied. A soldier came with some drinking glasses and smashed them at the entrance to the room where they were being held. After smashing the glasses, the soldier left again.
Abd Rabbo had developed a severe headache. Another detainee, who spoke Hebrew, called a soldier to say that he was sick and needed medicine. The soldier told him to keep quiet or he would be shot. A woman tied a scarf around his head to ease the pain.
At around 7am, he was taken back to the soldiers outside. He was questioned about the number of fighters in the house. He confirmed that he had seen three.
Two young Palestinian men from the neighborhood were brought over. A soldier gave them a camera and told them to go into the house and take photos of the fighters. The two tried to refuse, and were beaten and kicked. About 10 minutes later, they came back with photos of the three fighters. Two appeared to be dead, under rubble. The third was also trapped by rubble but appeared to be alive and was still holding his firearm. A soldier showed Abd Rabbo the photos and asked if these were the same people. He confirmed they were.
A soldier took the megaphone and told the fighters that they had 15 minutes to surrender, that the neighborhood was under the control of Israeli forces and that, if they did not surrender, they would hit the house with an airstrike.
Fifteen minutes later, a soldier came with a dog, which had electronic gear attached to its body and what looked like a camera on its head. Another soldier had a small laptop. The handler sent the dog into the house. A few minutes later, shots were heard and the dog came running out. It had been shot and subsequently died.
At around 10:30am on 6 January 2009, a bulldozer arrived and started to level the house, demolishing everything in its way. Abd Rabbo watched it demolish his own house and the neighbor's house. He and the two young men were told to go back to the family house. They heard shooting.
At around 3pm, Abd Rabbo was taken back close to the site of his and his neighbor's house. He told the Goldstone mission that he saw the bodies of the three fighters lying on the ground in the rubble of the house.
The soldiers then forced him to enter other houses on the street as they searched them. All were empty. The soldiers forced him to go into a house alone initially and, when he came out, sent in a dog. During the house searches he managed to find some water to drink, the first drink he had had for two days. At midnight, the soldiers took him back to the family house.
On 7 January, all the men and boys were taken from the family house and transferred to the house of a cousin of Abd Rabbo's in the same neighborhood. There were more than 100 men and boys, including members of his extended family, aged between 15 and 70. The women were being held elsewhere. Abd Rabbo's immediate family members were not there, and he learnt that no one had seen them. He remained extremely anxious about their safety.
At around 11pm, the men and boys in that house were told that they were going to be released, and that they should all walk west toward Jabaliya, without turning left or right, on threat of being shot. They found Izbat Abd Rabbo Street severely damaged. Abd Rabbo went to his sister's house in Jabaliya, where he was reunited with his wife and children.
Abd Rabbo told the Goldstone mission that he and his family were traumatized by what had happened to them and did not know what to do now, having lost their home and all their possessions. His children were all suffering psychologically and performing poorly at school. Five months later, Majdi Abd Rabbo was still having nightmares.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253109
