Archbishop Tutu's UN Fact-Finding Mission Meets with Al-Mezan Delegation in Gaza

Date: 29 / 05 / 2008 Time: 14:31
Gaza – Ma'an –

The UN High Level Fact-Finding Mission to investigate a massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces in November 2006 met with a delegation from Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights on Wednesday evening. The mission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Professor Christine Chinkin, is in Gaza to investigate the November 2006 Israeli bombing of the Al-Athamnah homes in Beit Hanoun, in which 19 Palestinian civilians were killed.

The mission's visit to Gaza comes a year and a half after it was established by the UN Human Rights Council. Al-Mezan's delegation included the Center's director Issam Younus, Samir Zaqqout, field research coordinator, and Mahmoud Abu Rahma, international relations coordinator.

The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva decided on 15 November 2006 to send a fact-finding mission to investigate the bombing of the Al-Athamnah family in Beit Hanoon, which killed 19 civilians, including seven children and six women. The mission's arrival was delayed several times as Israel refused permission for it to enter. They finally entered the Gaza Strip on 27 May through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Hamas: Israel refuses to cooperate with the UN committee

[ 28/05/2008 - 03:15 PM ]

BEIT HANUN, (PIC)--

The Hamas Movement on Wednesday welcomed the UN fact finding commission that arrived in Gaza on Tuesday under chairmanship of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, charging the Israeli occupation government with refusing to deal with it.

Abdul Latif Al-Qanu, Hamas spokesman in northern Gaza, said in a press release that the Israeli refusal to receive the commission fell in line with its attempts to cover up crimes and bloody massacres against innocent civilians and to conceal facts and escape from any responsibility.

He called on the fact finding commission to get acquainted with the horrific bloodbath committed against the Athamna family and its results then to convey its finding before the world community that claims to be championing democracy and freedoms.

The "Zionist enemy has a black history in dealing with the Palestinian people and its leaders' hands are smeared with blood of our people," he said, adding that the Athamna massacre was not the first and would not be the last.

Qanu recalled that Israel had committed scores of carnages against the Palestinian people since its illegal creation in 1948 on usurped Palestinian lands.

Ongoing Israeli atrocities

Al-Mezan's delegation told the mission about the general situation in the Gaza Strip, especially the ongoing Israeli atrocities. They explained that the massacre under investigation occurred in the context of ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

The delegation from Al-Mezan also explained to the mission that the second Palestinian Intifada began with peaceful protests, which met with violent repression from Israeli forces. They narrated the details of Operation Autumn Clouds, the Israeli occupation forces operation in 2006 during which the Beit Hanoun massacre was committed. During this 28-day operation, 104 Palestinians were killed and 346 injured by Israeli forces, and much of the area's infrastructure and property were destroyed.

The delegation also highlighted that during this military operation Israeli occupation forces shelled a women's march attempting to lift the siege on Beit Hanoun on 3 November 2006, killing one woman and severely injuring seven others.

In order to give the context for the Beit Hanoun events, Al-Mezan staff also described other Israeli occupation forces operations in Gaza such as Operation Rainbow in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in which Israeli occupation forces also fired on a peaceful march. They also responded to technical questions about the details of the Beit Hanoon massacre and presented documentary evidence and witness statements to the mission.

Archbishop Tutu delivered an impressive speech applauding the Palestinian people for their ability to remain steadfast under such difficult conditions. He also thanked everybody who met with the mission for their cooperation.

UN's Tutu feels ashamed of international silence towards Gaza conditions

Thursday May 29, 2008 14:11 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Chairman of the United Nations probe panel on the Israeli occupation army killing of 19 Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza in November2006, former South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu expressed shame over the deteriorating conditions in Gaza.

Tutu was speaking during a press conference in Gaza city on Thursday morning, after concluding a two-day mission in Gaza.

" its shame that we remain silent over what is going in Gaza, which needs external help and support, so the population there can enjoy legitimate humanitarian rights".

" the situation in Gaza is extremely miserable, we have not seen a passerby or any aspect of normal life as same as in many parts of the world. We have not seen children who smile or play, we have not either seen cars carrying passengers due to lack of fuel".

As for the purpose of his mission Gaza, Tutu explained that his three-member panel, heard testimonies from survivors of the Israeli occupation army massacre in 2006, saying that he was shocked of a woman's testimony.

" I rushed to my wounded son, who was trying to collect his abdomen's contents, after he was hit in the Israeli shelling", the Nobel prize winner quoted the woman as saying.

He also called for lifting the Israeli blockade on Gaza, stopping Palestinian homemade shells fire onto nearby Israeli towns, as well as resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks for achieving peace in the region.

Christine Jenkiz, a panel member and international law expert, said that preliminary investigations revealed that Israel was proved involved in a war crime against humanity, when its army killed 19 civilians , most of them from the Al-'Athamna family in November2006.

Tutu's visit to Gaza was delayed in late 2006, after the Israeli government denied him access to the Gaza Strip, and he eventually could make his way to Gaza on Tuesday through the Rafah crossing terminal in southern Gaza Strip.

In November19, the Israeli army artillery shelled four residential houses in Beit Hanoon city in northern Gaza Strip, causing the death of 19 Palestinian women and children, many of whom were same family members. Israel then claimed the shelling resulted from a fatal technical problem of its artillery.

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