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Israeli
Rights Groups Slams Army Practices
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| Everyday,
more news of Israeli army’s atrocities against the
Palestinians come to light. |
JERUSALEM,
March 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A leading Israeli
rights group Thursday branded the Israeli army's behavior in the
occupied Palestinian territories as "trigger-happy," while
dozens of Palestinians were abducted after Israeli tanks were sent
into the West Bank in overnight raids, news agencies reported.
The
B'Tselem Israeli organization said in a report that unclear rules of
engagement in the 18-month Palestinian intifada "caused
extensive injury of Palestinians not involved in acts of violence
against Israel," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
report, entitled "Trigger Happy," said live ammunition was
at times used even when there was "no clear and immediate
threat to life," while regulations are "not provided to
soldiers in writing and in a straightforward manner."
It
also slammed the army for a lack of investigations into frequent
shootings of Palestinians, saying those probes that are carried out
are "superficial and usually rely exclusively on soldiers'
versions of the events."
B'Tselem
said the report was based on evidence given by Israeli soldiers
deployed in the occupied Palestinian territories, and from press
reports.
The
report quoted an Israeli soldier as saying, "You hear shooting,
nothing effective. You jump and start shooting. There's nowhere to
shoot. You shoot at suspicious places, which is a bush here and a
bush there, more or less".
"But
the soldiers take a bit of initiative and shoot at suspicious water
tanks, suspicious television antennas, suspicious satellite
dishes," he said. The soldier denied Israeli reports that
during one attack on the Jewish settlement of Morag in the Gaza
Strip the troops had only responded to fire.
"This
was an incident that was later reported on the army radio, as shots
were fired at the greenhouses of the Morag settlement. Our forces
returned fire to the sources of the shooting. I don't know about any
sources of the shooting, and I was there," he said.
The
report also highlighted incidents when a mentally disabled
Palestinian man was shot dead in the Gaza Strip when he wandered
onto a road closed by the army, and of a Palestinian child shot dead
while playing with a plastic gun near a Jewish settlement in the
Gaza Strip.
For
his part, Israeli Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Rafowicz
denied the accusations of excessive use of force, and claimed
Israeli officers made clear that their men understood the rules of
engagement.
"There
are some problems here and there, but we do investigate, unlike the
other side. Israel is a country with due processes of law," he
claimed.
Meanwhile,
dozens of Palestinians were abducted after Israeli tanks were sent
into the West Bank in overnight raids, reported BBC’s online news
service.
The
action came shortly after senior Israeli and Palestinian security
officials failed to agree on a ceasefire, despite intense U.S.
pressure.
The
tanks entered three villages around Jenin in Sector A, which is
meant to be entirely under Palestinian Authority control.
An
Israeli army spokesman claimed troops withdrew once the raids were
completed. Palestinian officials, however, said soldiers remained on
the outskirts of the villages.
Israeli
radio reported that among the villages targeted was Tubas, the home
of Palestinian activists who shot and killed an Israeli soldier
earlier this week.
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