Future chapters will be available shortly with legal findings narrated by other prominent personalities.
The just-released Israeli document
Gaza
Operation Investigations: Second update (July 2010) exonerated the IDF war criminals who, as our Chapter 11 video shows, deliberately shot four members of the Abd Rabbo family, in the process killing three, and rendering the fourth Samar Abd Rabbo a paraplegic for the rest of her life. The relevant excerpts from the document are quoted here to reinforce the point that only an international investigation into the crimes committed by Israel could bring justice to its victims.
Amal, Souad, Samar, and Hajja Souad Abd Rabbo & Adham Kamiz Nasir
108. This incident involved the alleged
shooting of four Palestinian civilians on 7 January 2009 in the
neighborhood of Izbat Abd Rabbo, and was reported to Israeli authorities
by several human rights organizations.51 The MAG referred the
complaint to a direct criminal investigation which was recently
concluded. In the course of this comprehensive investigation, the
MPCID collected testimony from eleven Palestinians who witnessed the
events. Some of them were unable or unwilling to testify before MPCID investigators, but provided detailed
affidavits. In addition, the investigators reviewed medical reports
and death certificates, as well as aerial photographs provided by an
Israeli NGO, which helped identify the different units involved in the incident. More than fifty commanders and
soldiers from these units were also questioned by the MPCID. Some
were questioned multiple times in order to clarify the circumstances
of the case.
109. The evidence collected in the course of the investigation could not
confirm the description of the incident by the complainants, who
claimed that a soldier standing on a tank had opened fire at a group
of civilians. The substantial
discrepancies between the complaint and the findings of the
investigation—in particular, the identity of the force and the
sequence of events—led the MAG to conclude that the evidence was
insufficient to initiate criminal proceedings.
110. A second part of the complaint alleged that the IDF fired at a
horse-driven carriage attempting to evacuate the civilians injured in
the first shooting incident and subsequently killed the carriage’s
driver.
111. The investigation confirmed that the carriage was fired upon by an
IDF unit operating in the Izbat Abd Rabbo neighborhood. The unit had
received a concrete warning that Hamas planned to send such a
carriage loaded with explosives to detonate near an IDF position. The soldiers fired warning shots at the
approaching
carriage, which was loaded with bags that the soldiers
thought contained explosives. When the carriage did not respond to
the warning shots and continued its approach, the unit fired in its direction.
112. Under these
circumstances, the MAG determined that the soldiers who fired at the carriage
were not criminally liable. The MAG found that the soldiers’ decision
to fire was made in light of their belief, at the time, that the carriage
posed an immediate threat to the force. (The investigation revealed
that the bags did not contain explosives.) Thus, despite the
unfortunate results of the incident, the MAG decided to close the case.