The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) yesterday released the results of the investigations undertaken by five teams assigned to look into the conduct of its soldiers during operations in Gaza.

The IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, ordered the investigations in the aftermath of media reports claiming the Israeli military had engaged in human-rights abuses during the Dec. 27-Jan. 18 offensive.

Three colonels who had not been associated with any part of the operation were chosen to investigate the allegations to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

The five investigative teams examined the following issues:

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  • Claims regarding incidents where U.N. and international facilities were fired upon and damaged during the Gaza incursion.
  • Incidents involving shooting at medical facilities, buildings, vehicles and crews.
  • Claims regarding incidents where many uninvolved civilians were harmed.
  • The use of weaponry containing phosphorous.
  • Damage to infrastructure and destruction of buildings by ground forces.

The investigators operated independently and had access to all relevant materials and the freedom to question any of the relevant personnel.

They examined the complaints that reached the IDF and other Israeli authorities, interviewed many soldiers and officers, and gathered relevant documents and other materials.

Each soldier whose testimony was requested was required to cooperate with the investigation.

The investigations concluded the IDF operated in accordance with international law throughout the Gaza incursion.

The investigations revealed a very small number of incidents where serious intelligence or operational errors took place during the fighting. These unfortunate incidents were unavoidable and occur in all combat situations. They were made more difficult to avoid by Hamas’ choice to fight from within the civilian population.

The investigation found Hamas booby-trapped its houses with explosives, fired from the schools attended by its own children and used its own people as human shields, while taking advantage of the IDF’s legal and ethical commitment to avoid injuring uninvolved civilians.

The IDF dropped more than 2,250,000 leaflets during the fighting. It used Palestinian radio, made personal telephone warnings to more than 165,000 Gaza residents and carried out a special warning shot procedure (“A knock on the roof”) to avoid civilian casualties.

Additionally, the study showed that IDF made extensive use of accurate munitions, wherever and whenever possible, to minimize harm to civilians.

In addition, during the operation, the IDF allowed humanitarian convoys to enter Gaza and a humanitarian recess for several hours a day.

The investigations also found the IDF achieved its aims and objectives and struck a heavy blow to the terror organizations lead by the Hamas by targeting terrorists, military infrastructure and weapons manufacturing facilities.

The complex operation involved cooperation between air, naval and ground forces together with different intelligence agencies, including both reserve and regular forces. Prior to the operation, careful planning and preparations were undertaken to ensure that the units and command centers were prepared for any challenge.

The IDF reports, however, has not satisfied opponents who questioned the military’s ability to investigate itself.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

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David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.