Palestinian UN rep says every Gaza missile ‘a crime against humanity

Rockets seen fired from Gaza into Israel, on the sixth day of Operation Protective Edge, July 13, 2014. (Photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)

T

he Palestinian representative to the UN Human Rights Council said that every rocket and mortar fired from Gaza toward Israel is a “crime against humanity.

Speaking on July 9 to Palestinian Authority TV on the possible risks involved if Palestinians leaders ask to join the International Criminal Court — as they have threatened to do — Ambassador Ibrahim Kraishi said the “Palestinian weakness” in terms of international law is the indiscriminate firing of rockets at Israel.

The missiles that are now being launched against Israel,  each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or misses, because it is directed at civilian targets,” says Kraishi during the interview, translated by MEMRI.

The ambassador said that, by contrast, Israel’s actions follows legal procedures, because the IDF warns Gazan civilians to leave sites and areas before they are bombed.

Many of our people in Gaza appeared on TV and said that the Israelis warned them to evacuate their homes before the bombardment. In such a case, if someone is killed, the law considers it a mistake rather than an intentional killing because [the Israelis] followed the legal procedures.”

“As for the missiles launched from our side, we never warn anyone about where these missiles are about to fall or about the operations we carry out,” he says.

Kraishi also said the “settlements [in the West Bank], the Judaization [of Jerusalem], the checkpoints, the arrests, and so on” were also considered “war crimes” under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

Times of Israel