UN: Gaza siege tramples human rights

Source: Daily Star, 06-7-2006
"Israel's" prime minister ordered the army Wednesday to expand an offensive in Gaza after militants fired a missile into an "Israeli" city, amid UN accusations that the siege violates international human rights law. Hours later several "Israeli" tanks rolled into the site of a former Jewish (Zionist) settlement in northern Gaza from where the rocket was fired, witnesses said.
The latest military escalation came as Egyptian and Turkish mediators tried bring an end to the escalating crisis, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned it was "high time" Hamas released the abducted "Israeli" soldier.
Political sources said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was also considering establishing a "buffer zone" - a no-go zone where anyone trespassing the designated boundaries can be shot - in northern Gaza to halt the cross-border rocket fire.
An Olmert spokesman said no such decision had been taken on a move that could amount to re-occupying parts of the strip.
Hamas` armed wing hit the coastal city of Ashkelon on Tuesday with an upgraded homemade rocket that traveled 12 kilometers from Gaza.
"Given the abduction and continued ballistic salvoes, including the [rocket] launched at Ashkelon, the rules of the game in dealing with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas must be changed," a statement from Olmert`s office claimed.
The statement added that Olmert`s security Cabinet had approved strikes against Hamas members in Gaza and also the occupied West Bank, and also approved stepped-up attacks on rocket crews in Gaza.
The goals of the campaign were described as "damaging Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza, with an emphasis on institutions and terror infrastructure."
UN human-rights envoy John Dugard accused "Israel" of violating the "most fundamental norms" of international human-rights law with its siege of Gaza.
"Israel's" military action was a "disproportionate use of force against civilians," said Dugard, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory.
"It is clear ‘Israel' is in violation of the most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law," Dugard said in an address to a special session of the UN Human Rights Council.
He accused the so-called "Quartet" of Mideast mediators of doing nothing to rein in "Israel".
The EU also warned that the army`s operations had delayed efforts to get much-needed funding to the Palestinian people.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said "Israel's" plans to enlarge an interdiction zone in northern Gaza would only make matters worse. "‘Israel' is using the recent developments as a pretext to impose faits accomplis. A security zone will not solve the problem, but on the contrary, will help further the escalation."
In Cairo, Egypt`s mediation efforts ground to a halt because Hamas` Syria-based political chief Khaled Meshaal was refusing to press for the unconditional release of Corporal Gilad Shalit and because of growing mistrust between Egypt and Hamas, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said. As a result, Meshaal was turning his attention to mediation by Turkey, which has stepped up diplomacy in an effort to end the standoff, the Palestinian officials said.
After a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Rice praised the diplomatic efforts of Turkey with Syria`s government to ease rising tensions.
Rice said Turkish envoys have told Syrian authorities "as directly as possible" they should use their leverage to secure the release of the "Israeli" soldier.
She urged "Israel" and the Palestinians to show restraint in order to prevent a further deterioration of the situation.
"Israeli" daily Yediot Ahronot on Wednesday quoted Arab mediators as saying seven gunmen were holed up with him in an underground bunker somewhere in Gaza, with a hoard of food.
On the ground, witnesses said "Israeli" tanks took up position at the former site of two Gaza settlements before dark, including Elei Sinai, where Hamas militants fired the rocket that hit Ashkelon.
Troops earlier took control of several houses in Beit Hanun and skirmished with Hamas gunmen, witnesses said.
An "Israeli" military spokeswoman in a claim denied tanks had been moved to the former settlement sites in Gaza, but said some armored vehicles were protecting troops in Beit Hanun.
Militants said they fired at least two anti-tank rockets, hitting a tank and an armored bulldozer, while "Israeli" missiles tore through the Interior Ministry building, wounding three.
Another "Israeli" air strike destroyed classrooms in an empty school.