On the very day that a UN investigation has condemned Israel for the majority of attacks on UN facilities in Gaza - with resultant deaths, injuries and destruction - during the recent Gaza War, and yet again Israel's Defence Minister has declared that the IDF is the "most moral in the world" [ he protesteth too much?] comes a report in The Guardian that medical human rights group claim Israeli security services are violating international laws on torture and coercion.
"An Israeli medical human rights group said today that an increasing number of Palestinian patients from Gaza were being interrogated by Israeli security services before being allowed to leave the strip for treatment.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said at least 438 patients had been summoned for interrogation by the Shabak, the Israeli general security service, at the Erez crossing out of Gaza between January 2008 and March this year.
It took evidence from several patients and found they were "forced to provide information as a precondition to exit Gaza for medical care". The group said the ratio of applicants being interrogated rose from 1.45% in January last year to 17% in January this year. Their research also suggested the number of interrogations increased sharply from the beginning of this year, after Israel's three-week war in Gaza.
One unnamed patient, who had been referred for orthopaedic treatment to a hospital in east Jerusalem, told the group that as he was trying to leave Gaza he was asked to give information on the people in his neighbourhood and was asked if he knew any Hamas members.
When he refused to give any information, he said his interrogator replied: "I understand that you don't want to answer me and that you don't want to work with us, so go back to Gaza."
Continue reading here - and be appalled by Israel's continued inhumane and illegal conduct.
Meanwhile, this, as reported by IPS in "Environment Emerges as a Major Casualty" :
"Countless fruit groves across the Gaza Strip are now gone, entire farms bulldozed. The remains of thousands of destroyed homes emit toxic asbestos, while dilapidated infrastructure dumps raw sewage into the Mediterranean Sea. An already deepening environmental crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip has been further compounded by the recent war.
Throughout the three-week Operation Cast Lead, Israel targeted almost every aspect of the coastal territory's infrastructure. Homes, businesses, factories, power grids, sewage systems and water treatment plants were reduced to piles of rubble across the Gaza Strip.
According to a preliminary assessment of environmental and infrastructural damage made by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Israel's assault not only exacerbated Gaza's existing hazards, but created new ones by contaminating both land and urban environments and leaving unprecedented amounts of debris in its wake."
Update: From BBC News "UN seeks $11m for Israeli raids":
"UN chief Ban Ki-moon says he will seek more than $11m (£7m) compensation from Israel for damage to UN property in Gaza but ruled out further inquiries.
Both measures were recommended in a hard-hitting UN report on bombing raids on UN compounds in December and January in which some 40 Palestinians died.
It accuses Israel of targeting known civilian shelters and providing untrue statements to justify its actions.
Israel called the report "biased" after its summary was released on Tuesday.
But an Israeli official quoted by Haaretz newspaper said negotiations about compensation would start with the UN in the coming weeks.
The report found Israel to blame in six out of nine incidents when death or injury were caused to people sheltering at UN property and UN buildings were damaged."
"An Israeli medical human rights group said today that an increasing number of Palestinian patients from Gaza were being interrogated by Israeli security services before being allowed to leave the strip for treatment.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said at least 438 patients had been summoned for interrogation by the Shabak, the Israeli general security service, at the Erez crossing out of Gaza between January 2008 and March this year.
It took evidence from several patients and found they were "forced to provide information as a precondition to exit Gaza for medical care". The group said the ratio of applicants being interrogated rose from 1.45% in January last year to 17% in January this year. Their research also suggested the number of interrogations increased sharply from the beginning of this year, after Israel's three-week war in Gaza.
One unnamed patient, who had been referred for orthopaedic treatment to a hospital in east Jerusalem, told the group that as he was trying to leave Gaza he was asked to give information on the people in his neighbourhood and was asked if he knew any Hamas members.
When he refused to give any information, he said his interrogator replied: "I understand that you don't want to answer me and that you don't want to work with us, so go back to Gaza."
Continue reading here - and be appalled by Israel's continued inhumane and illegal conduct.
Meanwhile, this, as reported by IPS in "Environment Emerges as a Major Casualty" :
"Countless fruit groves across the Gaza Strip are now gone, entire farms bulldozed. The remains of thousands of destroyed homes emit toxic asbestos, while dilapidated infrastructure dumps raw sewage into the Mediterranean Sea. An already deepening environmental crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip has been further compounded by the recent war.
Throughout the three-week Operation Cast Lead, Israel targeted almost every aspect of the coastal territory's infrastructure. Homes, businesses, factories, power grids, sewage systems and water treatment plants were reduced to piles of rubble across the Gaza Strip.
According to a preliminary assessment of environmental and infrastructural damage made by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Israel's assault not only exacerbated Gaza's existing hazards, but created new ones by contaminating both land and urban environments and leaving unprecedented amounts of debris in its wake."
Update: From BBC News "UN seeks $11m for Israeli raids":
"UN chief Ban Ki-moon says he will seek more than $11m (£7m) compensation from Israel for damage to UN property in Gaza but ruled out further inquiries.
Both measures were recommended in a hard-hitting UN report on bombing raids on UN compounds in December and January in which some 40 Palestinians died.
It accuses Israel of targeting known civilian shelters and providing untrue statements to justify its actions.
Israel called the report "biased" after its summary was released on Tuesday.
But an Israeli official quoted by Haaretz newspaper said negotiations about compensation would start with the UN in the coming weeks.
The report found Israel to blame in six out of nine incidents when death or injury were caused to people sheltering at UN property and UN buildings were damaged."
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