*Human Rights Watch’s recent report not only whitewashes Israel’s killing of its own citizens during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, but also omits critical evidence of the occupation army’s orders to deliberately target fellow ’civilians.’* by William Van Wagenen, The Cradle, July 23 2024 https://thecradle.co/articles/devil-in-the-details-how-hrw-laundered-israels-7-october-falsehoods
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a new report on 17 July entitled “I Can’t Erase All the Blood from My Mind,” in which the US-based rights group brazenly claims that Hamas’ leadership issued orders for its fighters to deliberately kill Israeli civilians during their attack on Israeli military bases and settlements in the Gaza envelope on 7 October. Then, based on that unsubstantiated premise, HRW declares that Hamas leaders are guilty of committing crimes against humanity for launching last year’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. However, any close reading of the report reveals that HRW bases these allegations on dubious evidence. The rights group deliberately ignores the much stronger evidence – presented by numerous Israeli military sources – that Israeli military leaders issued orders to their forces to kill Israeli civilians deliberately. But the massive 67,000-word HRW report fails to mention the controversial Israeli military doctrine, known as the Hannibal Directive, which directs Israeli forces to kill Israeli civilians and soldiers rather than allow them to be taken captive by an enemy. As The Cradle and other independent news outlets have documented, multiple reports in the Hebrew language media show how the occupation military used Apache attack helicopters, Zik drones, and Merkava tanks to fire heavy weapons at Israelis within Israeli territory, including in settlements (kibbutzim), military bases, the town of Sderot, and the grounds of the Nova music festival. HRW even ignored a detailed account published in major Israeli daily Haaretz just this month, which outlined the occupation state’s use of the Hannibal Directive on 7 October: "Documents obtained by Haaretz, as well as testimonies of soldiers, mid-level and senior IDF officers, reveal a host of orders and procedures laid down by the Gaza Division, Southern Command and the IDF General Staff up to the afternoon hours of that day, showing how widespread this procedure was, from the first hours following the attack and at various points along the border. “The instruction,” said a source in the army’s Southern Command, “was meant to turn the area around the border fence into a killing zone.” . . . HRW relies in part on “planning documents” allegedly carried by Hamas fighters during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to claim the Hamas leadership ordered them to kill and torture civilians. HRW somehow deems the documents credible while acknowledging they were “reportedly found by Israeli authorities” and HRW “was unable to verify their authenticity.” At the same time, HRW refuses even to mention the evidence acquired by Haaretz, including documents from the army and testimonies from soldiers and mid-level and senior army officers indicating that the Israeli military leadership issued orders to kill Israeli civilians. This raises further questions not only about the tarnished credibility of the US-based Human Rights Watch as an organization but also about the influence the Israeli government can exert over HRW researchers and directors to help spread its propaganda and justify its ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. # # # -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31295): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31295 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107533155/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
