Flooding South Lebanon - Human Rights Watch

eceived approval from representatives of the Army’s land forces command and that
all use of cluster munitions was in accordance with the orders they had received. 317
The findings of the second inquiry were made public in a statement released on
December 24, 2007, by the military advocate general, Brig. Gen. Avihai Mendelblit. It
reported that “rocket attacks on Israel were carried out from areas of dense
vegetation, in which the Hizbullah set up fortified infrastructure.” Most “cluster
munitions were fired at open and uninhabited areas, areas from which Hizbullah
forces operated and in which no civilians were present.” When the IDF used cluster
munitions in “residential areas/neighborhoods,” it did so “as an immediate
defensive response to rocket attacks by Hizbullah from launching sites located
within villages.” Implying the IDF chose to use cluster munitions for their area effect,
the military advocate general said, “the IDF had to make use of weaponry which
allowed for an immediate response to rocket fire while providing maximum coverage
within the targeted area.” The military advocate general reported that the IDF’s use of
cluster munitions was in accordance with IHL, “even where there was a deviation
from orders” (not to fire at built up areas). “Accordingly,” he had “decided not to
take legal measures in response to the deviations.” 318
Neither IDF inquiry was independent, nor have their detailed reports or the evidence
supporting their conclusions been made public. For example, while indicating that
there were deviations from orders not to target built up areas, IDF statements on
inquiry findings do not provide case-by-case information justifying why deviations
occurred. Instead, the IDF claims summarily that “IDF forces used the resources in
their possession in an effort to curtail the relentless rocket fire at Israeli civilians.”
Their statements do not explain the high saturation of towns and villages across
south Lebanon. They do not give any reasons why dud rates were so high. The
statements do not acknowledge the foreseeable future effects on civilians of high
dud rates. 319 Accordingly, the impartiality and rigor are impossible to assess. Neither
internal inquiry fulfills Israel’s duty to mount credible, independent, and impartial
317 Rapoport, “A Barrage of Accusations,” Ha’aretz; Hanan Greenberg, “Gunners: We Fired Cluster Bombs According to
Orders,” Ynet.com, November 21, 2006.
318 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Opinion of the Military Advocate General Regarding Use of Cluster Munitions in Second
Lebanon War.”
319 Ibid. See also Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “IDF to Probe Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon War.”
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