Thursday, May 7

UN demands Israel compensation for strikes in Gaza

A Palestinian woman sits amid the rubble of a house in late ...

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. chief on Tuesday accused Israel of lying about attacks on United Nations schools and other facilities during the Gaza military campaign — including one reported to have killed more than 40 people — and formally demanded compensation.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a U.N. investigation found conclusively that Israeli weaponry — some containing white phosphorus — was "the indisputed cause" of attacks on several schools, a health clinic and the world body's Gaza headquarters.

Israel like always denies that it intentionally struck the compounds, and says it was forced to act against militants using the buildings and other civilian areas for cover. Israel said the material its government presented to the U.N. was largely ignored in the final report.

Ban said he commissioned the investigation to look at "the nine most serious incidents" and appointed five board members in February, soon after the fighting ended.

The first of 11 recommendations calls for the U.N. to seek "formal acknowledgment by the government of Israel that its public statements alleging that Palestinians fired" from within the U.N.'s school in Jabalia on Jan. 6 and within the U.N.'s field office compound on Jan. 15 "were untrue and are regretted."

Another says the U.N. should "take appropriate action to seek accountability and pursue claims to secure reparation or reimbursement for all expenses incurred and payment made by the United Nations" because of deaths and injuries involving U.N. personnel and property.

In his presentation Tuesday, Ban took pains to point out, however, that Israeli citizens in southern Israel "faced and continue to face indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas and other militant groups."

But Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador, Daniel Carmon, called the report "biased" and "one-sided." [After all, Israel left some still alive! I guess they're saving them for next time. ]

Further, he said the commission was "betraying" Israel's confidence by going beyond the scope of what it was supposed to investigate.

"For us it was quite a shock to see the report. Not because we were surprised there was criticism — I mean, we were ready to receive criticism — but the scope and especially the issues that are tackled in this report," Carmon said.

In one strike near a U.N. school more than 40 people were killed, according to Gaza officials. At the time, witnesses told The Associated Press that militants fired from the area.

Ban said the purpose of the investigation, which he described as "completely independent" from his staff, was to establish a record of what happened.

He also denied that the report was "watered down" in any way to please Israel's main supporter, the United States. "I do not have any authority to edit or change conclusions on this," he said.

Israel launched the offensive in Gaza on Dec. 27 to weaken Palestinian Resistance and to continue it's mandate to clear out Palestine and take all the land and forge ahead with it's Greater Israel plans.

The three-week war killed over 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials and human rights groups. Thirteen Israelis were killed.

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