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Gabi Ashkenazi
On 27th December 2008, the suspect, as Chief of Staff,
ordered the Israeli army to attack densely populated areas in the Gaza
Strip. For three weeks, 1,500 tons of bombs were dropped from the air on
residential neighborhoods in Gaza and tens of thousands of artillery shells
were fired from tanks. For 3 weeks, the army damaged and destroyed houses,
schools, hospitals, infrastructure, water and electrical plants, killed more
than 1,300 people, hundreds of them children, and injured about 5,300
people. Thousands of houses were bombed or shelled and 50,000 residents
were made homeless, without shelter.
Prior to this, the suspect was part of a group, which
implemented a siege on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, denying
them a regular supply of food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity for 18
months.
According to international law, it is absolutely prohibited
to bomb residential areas in a way that interrupts the lives of civilians;
to carry out executions without trial, to collectively punish; to destroy or
damage hospitals, schools and homes. The prohibitions against collective
punishment were enshrined in the Geneva Conventions after the behavior of
the Nazis in Europe during World War II when they destroyed entire villages to
punish residents for sheltering the resistance. 194 countries agree
with the prohibitions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
In December 2008, a complaint was filed in the Hague against
the suspect, on suspicion that he had committed war crimes and crimes
against humanity for ordering the siege of Gaza.
Description of the suspect: male, about 55 years old, black
hair, olive skin above average height. The suspect is armed and could be
dangerous.
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Photo courtesy of the IDF Spokesperson
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