Guardian report: Israel breached the Geneva conventions
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/24/2002

"The International Committee of the Red Cross yesterday accused Israel of breaching the Geneva conventions by recklessly endangering civilian lives and property during its assault on the Jenin refugee camp, and by refusing the injured access to medical personnel for six days," The UK the Guardian reported Tuesday.

The Guardian reported "Rene Kosirnik, the head of the ICRC delegation in the region, said there was little doubt that Israel had breached interna tional law at the Jenin camp."

He added "What the law says is that you cannot attack or destroy civilians or civilian property. If you are in a military operation you have to take utmost care. If you suspect that your operation will cause disproportionate damage to civilians or civilian property then you have to stop the operation." Mr Kosirnik said "the Israelis also blocked emergency medical aid to the camp for nearly a week after the fighting end ed, while failing to provide care to the wounded, the Guardian reported."

"We were there for six days offering our services and we were refused," he said. "As long as Jenin refugee camp was occupied by the Israeli defence force, the first responsibility lies with the IDF to save lives. It is the responsibility of the force concerned to deliver services, to care for friend and foe. That is the rule." He said the ICRC had two days ago asked the Israelis for equipment to search for survivors and recover the dead, but was awaiting a response.

The Guardian reported "There is sufficient evidence to indicate that there have been serious violations of international law," Dr Kathleen Cavanaugh, a member of Amnesty's investigating team, said. "The question of whether this constitutes war crimes ... is what we want to ascertain." Amnesty says the Israelis gave civilians no opportunity to flee, and prevented the severely injured from being rescued. A UK expert questioned "No seriously injured persons arrived at the hospital. We draw the conclusion that they were allowed to die where they were," the Guardian reported.

Previous Stories:
  Amnesty International delegates' visit to Jenin   (4/23/2002)
  Annan disturbed by Israel criticism and threats against UN personal   (4/22/2002)
  Beshara: American plan to transfer Arafat to Gaza   (4/22/2002)
  US continues obstruction of effective international law; multinational force concept made meaningless   (4/19/2002)
  'Effective' UN resolution for immediate Israel withdrawal, honoring Geneva convention, or face sanctions   (4/10/2002)
  Geneva Conventions provisions violated in Palestine   (4/9/2002)
  Geneva Convention applies to Palestinian territories, top UN rights official says   (12/7/2001)
  Arab League insists on holding int'l conference to implement Geneva convention   (9/8/2001)
  UN committee calls on Israel to implement Geneva Convention on Palestinians   (6/15/1999)

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