According to UN Watch, Israel Exceeded Legal Standards During Operation Protective Edge

In a report published June 13 by UN Watch, a high-level group led by Gen. Klaus Naumann, former chief of staff of the Bundeswehr and chairman of the NATO Military Committee, found that Israel took extraordinary measures to reduce civilian casualties during Operation Protective Edge last summer.

“Some have suggested that the IDF lacked restraint or even deliberately targeted innocent civilians. Our findings lead us to the opposite conclusion,” the officers wrote.

“None of us are aware of any army that takes such extensive measures as did the IDF last summer to protect the lives of the civilian population in such circumstances.”

In its report, the UN Watch accused Hamas of committing war crimes by “deliberately and indiscriminately targeting” Israeli population centers with its rockets. “Hamas’s construction of tunnels designed to attack civilian community was similar to a warm crime,” the group stated

In addition, the group said, “Hamas launched attacks against Israel from the heart of its own civilian communities including in schools, hospitals, and mosques.”

These actions conducted by Hamas clearly amount to war crimes. The laws of armed conflict not only forbid the use of human shields but also demand that combatant forces ensure their civilians are physically evacuated from combat areas.

“Hamas made no effort to evacuate civilians; on the contrary, there are documented cases of them compelling civilians to remain in or return to places where they expected Israeli attacks to come,” the group said.

This report also spoke of the steps the IDF took to limit civilian casualties.

“We agree with the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, who, following the Pentagon’s fact-finding mission to Israel, went on record last November as saying that in the 2014 Gaza conflict, “Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties,’” the group said.

Their report concluded, “Our overall findings are that during Operation Protective Edge last summer, in the air, on the ground and at sea, Israel not only met a reasonable, international standard of observance of the laws of armed conflict, but in many cases significantly exceeded that standard.”

Members of the group, who visited Israel May 18-22 and were given extensive access to senior leaders and operational data, included:

• Giulio Terzi, former foreign minister of Italy
• Klaus Naumann, former chief of staff of the Bundeswehr and chairman of the NATO Military Committee
• Vincenzo Camporini, former chief of the Defence Staff of Italy
• Jose Maria Teran, former chief of the joint staff of Spain
• Pierre-Richard Prosper, former US State Department ambassador at large for war crimes issue
• Rafael Bardaji, former Spanish national security advisor
• David Deptula, former joint force air component commander, US Pacific Command
• Jim Molan, former chief of operations at multinational force headquarters in Iraq and former commander of the Australian Defence College
• Eduardo Ramirez, member of the Columbian Congress and former chief of security in Columbia
• Vincent Alcazar, former US Air Force officer in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Richard Kemp, a retired British colonel and former commander in Afghanistan