Goldstone Recognizes Israeli Humanitarian Warnings
Unable to deny the obvious, the Goldstone Report pays lip service to the millions of warnings Israel gave to Gaza residents in its attempt to avoid civilian injuries. The Goldstone Report lists these efforts:
- The Israeli armed forces made 20,000 calls on 27 December and 10,000 on 29 December 2008;
- 300,000 warning notes were dropped over the whole of the Gaza Strip on 28 December;
- 80,000 leaflets were dropped in Rafah on 29 December;
- In the context of the beginning of ground operations on 3 January, 300,000 leaflets were dropped in the entire Gaza Strip, especially in the northern and eastern parts;
- On 5 January, 300,000 leaflets were dropped in Gaza City, Khan Yunis and Rafah;
- In total some 165,000 telephone calls were made throughout the military operations;
- In total some 2,500,000 leaflets were dropped.
- In addition to these measures, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains that the telephone calls were both direct calls and pre-recorded messages, that it made radio broadcasts, and that it developed a practice of dropping apparently light explosives on rooftops (referred to by some as “roof-knocking”) [this was meant to avoid injuring those in the building while attempting to move combatants out of areas where Israel feared civilians might be hiding]
Goldstone once again pays lip-service to these efforts with a condescending confirmation, "The Mission has reviewed the text of several of the leaflets dropped by the Israeli armed forces and listened to all of the messages recorded on the website of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It accepts that Israel dropped leaflets, made phone calls, left recorded messages and dropped smaller explosives on roofs as stated by the Israeli Government."
Not listed, of course, was any similar attempt from Hamas and other forces in Gaza to avoid civilian injuries in Israel. No condemnation or indication that Hamas violated international law, though at one point, Goldstone suggests it might be a violation of international law...
Of course, we all know there were no such efforts and, in fact, know the opposite to be true. Hamas has repeatedly targeted Israeli cities and civilians.