Diary about peace and freedom

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Human rights group Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday that Israeli restrictions prevented Palestinians from receiving enough water in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The report said Israel's daily water consumption per capita was four times higher than that in the Palestinian territories.

"Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford," said Amnesty's Donatella Rovera.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Amnesty's statement that Israel was depriving the Palestinians of water as "preposterous."

Israel says it has met its obligations under the 1993 Oslo agreement while Palestinians have failed to meet their own requirements to recycle water and were not distributing water efficiently.

"Israel supplied Palestinians 20.8 million cubic litres above and beyond what it is obliged to do under the water agreement," said Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev.

Israel, itself facing unprecedented water shortages and rising tariffs, controls much of the West Bank's supplies, pumping from an aquifer that bridges Israel and the territory.

Israel sells some water back to the Palestinians under quotas agreed in the Oslo accords that rights groups say have not been increased in line with population growth.

The report said Gaza's coastal aquifer, its sole fresh water resource, had been polluted by infiltration of seawater and raw sewage and degraded by over-extraction. Continued...

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A UN investigation has recommended a process that could land Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The probe, headed by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone, concludes that Israel "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" during its Gaza offensive in December last year.

It asks the UN Security Council to call on Israel to conduct "appropriate investigations," to monitor them, and to refer the matter to the ICC if they're deemed not to meet international standards.

The report found that the firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups also amounted to war crimes, and called for a similar process of accountability for the Gaza authorities.

But the 34-page summary devoted much less space to the Palestinian violations, and particularly slammed what it called Israel's disproportionate use of force.

UN chief 'reluctant'

Despite the strong conclusions, there is scepticism here about how far these recommendations will go - indeed whether the matter will even get on to the UN Security Council's agenda.

The first step is for the UN's Human Rights Council which commissioned Mr Goldstone's fact-finding mission to request UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to bring the matter to the attention of the UN Security Council.

When asked whether he would do so, Mr Ban avoided answering the question directly, instead expressing support for Mr Goldstone's report.

"I have directed our staff to fully review the contents of this, upholding the principles of accountability," he told the BBC.

"I regard that in addressing all these issues, wherever and whenever there are violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, these issues should be addressed with a full accountability."

Mr Ban had earlier commissioned his own investigation into Israeli damage of UN institutions in Gaza.

He reported a summary of its conclusions to the UN Security Council, but it was never made public in its entirety and was not taken up by the council for further action.

One long-time UN observer suggested the UN chief may be reluctant to deal with what could turn into a diplomatic firestorm.

"I think he feels that he burned himself with his own Gaza report, and this one is much more comprehensive and even more politically sensitive, so I think he will not be eager to do it," the observer said.

If the issue does get onto the council agenda, it seems unlikely to result in the concrete action requested.

'Dishonest' report

Certainly Israel will do all it can to make sure of that.

The military operation was a result of disrespect for the fundamental principle of 'distinction' in international humanitarian law Key extracts from UN statement

"We have to look into it, speak with the secretary general and then have a plan of action. We are not going to let it go," the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, told the BBC.

She noted that Israel had been taken by surprise by the timing and location of the announcement.

Israel has strongly rejected the report as "political, unbalanced and dishonest".

It refused to co-operate in the fact-finding mission, saying the mandate prejudged the outcome.

And it defended its own investigations carried out by the military and government ministries.

These were dismissed by Mr Goldstone as "pusillanimous" because, he said, they relied almost exclusively on testimony from Israeli soldiers and included virtually no evidence from Palestinian victims.

"I don't think we will change [because of the report]," said Ms Shalev.

"I know our Supreme Court and the ethics of the Israeli Defence Forces, and every complaint is being looked into. Hundreds are being looked into. Palestinians can bring petitions to the Supreme Court.

"I hope that our friends will support us. We don't have many, but reliable ones like the United States and the Europeans. And they will know we are looking into incidents and don't need help from the outside," Ms Shalev said.

Accountability plea

The expectation here is that Washington, Israel's most reliable friend, would veto any UN Security Council resolution on the matter, as it has done in the past with UN resolutions to which Israel objects.

Perhaps the most that can be expected is a hearing. "There's always a briefing when you want to let off steam," said the UN observer.

But others say the significance of Mr Goldstone's report was precisely his call for accountability, and a timetable to achieve it.

Indeed, the judge stressed: "I think we should all rejoice in living in a world today where there is accountability for war crimes. There wasn't until very recently - it's a very new situation, and it's very important that there should be… no impunity for international crimes that are committed".

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The UN Human Rights Council has backed a report into the Israeli offensive in Gaza that accuses both Israel and Palestinian militants of war crimes.

The report by Richard Goldstone calls for credible investigations by Israel and Hamas, and suggests international war crimes prosecutions if they do not.

Twenty-five countries voted for the resolution, while six were against.

Both Israel and the US opposed official endorsement of the report, saying it would set back Middle East peace hopes.

GOLDSTONE REPORT VOTE For: Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia and 21 others Against: US, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Ukraine Abstentions: Belgium, Bosnia, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, Slovenia and Uruguay No vote: UK, France and 3 others

The Palestinian Authority initially backed deferring a vote, but changed its position after domestic criticism.

Palestinians and human rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans were killed in the 22-day conflict that ended in January, but Israel puts the figure at 1,166.

Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed.

'Culture of impunity'

Before the vote in Geneva - in which 11 countries abstained and five others, including the UK and France, chose not to vote - the Palestinian Authority's representative argued that the matter was simply about respect for the rule of law.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, meanwhile insisted that now was the time to end the "culture of impunity" which continues to prevail in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

The report accuses Israel of using "disproportionate force" in Gaza UN seeks close Gaza scrutiny Key extracts from UN statement Full UN report on Gaza war

In contrast, the Israeli government had lobbied intensively against the resolution, saying the Goldstone report was biased against Israel and removed the right of nations to defend themselves against terrorists.

It also complained that the vote was not simply on the Goldstone report, but on a Palestinian-backed resolution that criticised Israel and ignored Hamas. The resolution also made references to recent Israeli actions East Jerusalem that were not in the document.

The US deputy representative in Geneva agreed, saying that the resolution's approach and "sweeping conclusions of law" made the prospect of a meaningful Middle East peace process more difficult.

Asked why it did not vote, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC that the British and French governments had been "in the middle of detailed discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel about three key issues - the establishment of an independent inquiry, humanitarian aid to Gaza and the restart of the peace process".

"The vote was called in the middle of those discussions and we thought it right to continue with our work on the three fundamental issues so that could really contribute to a reversal of what is a dangerous spiral of trust and mistrust in the Middle East," he said.

'One-sided resolution'

The BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says momentum behind the Goldstone report will grow and the UN may take it up in New York.

ANALYSIS Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor The row about the report is an antidote to any over-optimistic hope for peace. In many ways, it is a more honest expression of reality, of the deep divisions that exist, than the uncomfortable handshake between Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian Authority president that US President Barack Obama manufactured in New York last month. Mr Obama, who came to office hoping to renew and reinvigorate a peace process, has had another reminder of how difficult a job he has taken on. Israel says it will not take risks for peace, if it cannot defend itself. And the Israelis have once again been condemned in an international forum. There was some confusion among Israel's European allies. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown had a "robust" discussion with his Israeli counterpart last night, apparently talking about a British abstention in Geneva. The UK did not vote in the end, although initially the Foreign Office said it had abstained. Then Downing Street said it was a non-vote rather than a formal abstention. Perhaps Israeli pressure worked, partly. Perhaps Mr Brown decided to send a signal to the Israelis, but on second thoughts, not too much of one.

The 575-page report by the South African judge concluded that Israel had "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" by using disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians, using Palestinians as human shields and destroying civilian infrastructure during its offensive in Gaza.

It also found there was also evidence that Palestinian militant groups including Hamas, which controls Gaza, had committed war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity, in their repeated rocket and mortars attacks on southern Israel.

The report demanded that unless the parties to the Gaza war investigated the allegations of war crimes within six months, the cases should be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

In the short term, the Human Rights Council resolution will provide some political relief for the Palestinian Authority (PA) President, Mahmoud Abbas, our correspondent says.

Mr Abbas had been the butt of intense criticism among the Palestinian public and from his Islamist rivals in Hamas, for initially trying to delay a vote on the Goldstone report, he adds.

In Ramallah, a spokesman for Mr Abbas welcomed the endorsement of the report and said international action should not end there.

"What is important now is to translate words into deeds in order to protect our people in the future from any new aggression," Nabil Abu Rudainah said.

A Hamas spokesman told the BBC it also supported further UN action, but said nothing about the charges against the group.

"We thank whoever voted for it, and we hope that this vote will be the beginning of the process to bring the Israeli war criminals to justice," Taher al-Nono said.

The Israeli foreign ministry rejected the "one-sided resolution", which it said ignored "the murderous attacks perpetrated by Hamas and other terrorist organisations against Israeli civilians" and the "unprecedented precautions taken by Israeli forces in order to avoid harming civilians".

"This resolution provides encouragement for terrorist organisations worldwide and undermines global peace. Israel will continue to exercise its right to self-defence, and take action to protect the lives of its citizens," the statement added.

If the report comes before the UN Security Council, the US is expected to veto any call for ICC action against Israel.

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Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.

In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

It says that in Gaza, Israel's blockade has brought the water and sewage system to "crisis point".

Israel says the report is flawed and the Palestinians get more water than was agreed under the 1990s peace deal.

'Basic need'

In the 112-page report, Amnesty says that on average Palestinian daily water consumption reaches 70 litres a day, compared with 300 litres for the Israelis.

Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water Donatella Rovera Amnesty International

It says that some Palestinians barely get 20 litres a day - the minimum recommended even in humanitarian emergencies.

Amnesty says that Israel denies West Bank Palestinians to dig wells, and has even destroyed cisterns and impounded water tankers.

At the same time, the report claims, Israeli settlers are enjoying swimming pools and green gardens.

In Gaza, Israel refuses access to many of the building materials needed to renovate the ailing water system, the document says.

It adds that Israel uses more than 80% of the water from the Mountain Aquifer - the main source of underground water in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

"Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford," Amnesty's Donatella Rovera said.

"Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water."

Ms Rovera also urged Israel to "take responsibility for addressing the problems it created by allowing Palestinians a fair share of the shared water resources".

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the report was factually inaccurate, accusing the Palestinians of mismanaging water resources.

He also rejected the claim that Israel was preventing Palestinians from drilling for water.

The spokesman said Israel had approved 82 such projects but the Palestinians had only implemented 26 of them.

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