Israeli troops violated medical ethics: rights group

JERUSALEM – An Israeli human rights group said yesterday the military violated medical ethics codes during its Gaza offensive, the latest accusation against the conduct in combat of Israel’s military.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR) described alleged incidents which ‘reveal that not only did the (military) not evacuate besieged and wounded families, it also prevented Palestinian (medical) teams from reaching the wounded’.
PHR’s report followed accusations by other human rights groups and Palestinians that Israel’s actions during the 22-day offensive in the Palestinian coastal enclave, controlled by the Islamist Hamas group, warranted war crimes investigations.
The Israeli military said the High Court had dismissed a petition PHR lodged on January 19, a day after the offensive ended, and that the allegations were still being investigated.
PHR quoted figures issued by the World Health Organisation which showed 16 Palestinian medical personnel were killed by Israeli fire during the offensive and that 25 were wounded while performing their duties.
Zvi Bentwich, a PHR board member, said this was ‘a reflection of what we consider unclear orders from above to the soldier on the field’. He said the Israeli military was ‘almost indiscriminately shooting at such teams’.
Last week, Gaza war veterans gave their accounts in the Israeli media of the killing of civilians and alleged that there was deep contempt for Palestinians among the ranks.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak responded to those accusations by repeating Israel’s description of its forces as the most moral in the world.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has put the Palestinian death toll during the war at 1 434 – 960 civilians, 235 fighters and 239 police officers. Israeli officials have disputed the figures. Thirteen Israelis were killed.
– Nampa-Reuters