- Palestine
- January 27, 2009
- 3 minutes read
French delegation confirms Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza
A French delegation visited Gaza last week affirmed that Israel committed real war crimes in the Gaza Strip and called for the establishment of an international investigation committee in this regard and for the suspension of the European partnership agreement with Israel.
The delegation which included MP Francis Wurz and mayor of Bagnolet city Marc Everbecq had visited Gaza on the 21st of this month.
In a conference held Monday by the delegation members in Paris, MP Wurz said that what the delegation saw did not look like effects of confrontation between two warring parties, but it was a massacre claimed the lives of hundreds of unarmed civilians in conjunction with the destruction of residential neighborhoods and the displacement of thousands of residents.
The lawmaker underlined that the delegation had an unwavering belief that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza after they listened to several testimonies and obtained definitive evidence proving that the IOF troops executed dozens of Palestinian civilians and used white phosphorus against others.
The lawmaker noted that the perpetrators of such crimes can not in any way escape punishment, stressing the need to establish an international investigation committee leading to the prosecution of those involved in war crimes in the international criminal court regardless of their ranks or offices.
The lawmaker also revealed his intention to submit a report about the delegation”s visit to Gaza to the speaker of the European parliament, pointing that a large number of the parliament members support the idea of suspending the partnership agreement between the European union and Israel until it respects the international humanitarian law and accepts the implementation of relevant UN resolutions.
For his part, mayor of Bagnolet Marc Everbecq condemned the position of those who compare Al-Qassam rockets with the huge arsenal of Israeli weapons, asserting that what he saw proved clearly that Israel did not target Hamas, but wanted to crush the Gaza citizens.
Everbecq added that the IOF troops used Palestinian civilians as human shields during their confrontations with the resistance fighters.
The department of primary care in the health ministry said in a report received by the PIC that Israel bombed more than 33 clinics belonging to the ministry during its war on Gaza.
The department stressed that the deliberate bombing of its clinics revealed the viciousness of the Israeli occupation and its outrageous lack of respect for the international conventions which criminalize any attacks on health institutions during wars.