Israeli Tape Shows Militants Using Vehicles Marked "UN"

UN checking claims Kassams transported in UN vehicle

Oct. 1, 2004 20:42 | Updated Oct. 2, 2004 19:28
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Amir Mizroch and Ofer Barsadeh, THE JERUSALEM POST Oct. 1, 2004

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UN officials said Saturday they are investigating a claim by the Israeli military that Palestinian terrorists transported a rocket in a vehicle with UN markings, but accused Israel of having made false allegations in the past.

On Friday, the IDF released video footage taken from an unmanned aircraft, or drone, flying over the Jebalya refugee camp. The blurred black-and-white video showed three men walking toward the U.N. vehicle, including one who carried an elongated object. The army said the object was a rocket.

Peter Hansen, the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Saturday that "we are doing our best to see what the basis for the allegations is," and that U.N. ambulance drivers were being questioned. The UNRWA is an agency which assists Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Saturday, Hansen said he was on his way to Jerusalem hopefully to be able to see higher resolution footage of the incident. He added that he has instigated an investigation of all ambulance drivers and orderlies. "This won't be the first time false allegations have been made against us. Everyone who has seen the footage has told me the object looks more like a folded-up stretcher than anything else. Especially since it was being carried with one hand. A Kassam rocket would be too heavy for a man to carry with one hand.

"Unless we are talking about Goliath, (he) could hardly carry a Kassam rocket as a light object in one hand," Hansen told The Associated Press.

According to the IDF website, the Kassam rocket is about 2 meters long and weighs on average 5.5 KG (about 12 pounds).

"This is not the first time that we have allegations that turn out to be false or rather (are) based on very, very insufficient evidence," he said.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Gillerman, has called on UN Secretary General Koffi Anan to fire Peter Hansen, the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following the publication of video footage showing Palestinian terrorists storing what appears to be a Kassam rocket inside a UN-marked vehicle in the northern Gaza Strip.

"We view this incident very seriously, and I intend on Monday to turn to the UN Secretary General with a very strong complaint. I will ask him to come to the necessary conclusions regarding UNRWA, to check the incident and establish a serious committee of inquiry that will get to the bottom of this thing. It is unacceptable that the UN, which is supposed to further the goals of peace, will turn into a shelter for murderers," Gillerman said.

Gillerman also called Hansen "anti-Israeli," Israel Radio reported.

Israel has accused terrorists of using U.N. vehicles and offices to launch attacks. Israel has also accused UNRWA officials of turning a blind eye to terrorist activities in their vicinity, and of bias against Israel.

Israel uses drones to monitor activities in the crowded Gaza refugee camps. The footage provides soldiers and pilots real-time pictures of what is happening on the ground.

Friday's footage was released while the army launched a wide scale operation in the Jebalya refugee camp and nearby towns in an attempt to halt Palestinian rocket attacks on towns in Israel. Those rocket attacks killed two Israeli preschoolers Wednesday.

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was established by United Nations General Assembly resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949 to carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees. The Agency began operations on 1 May 1950. In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until 30 June 2005.

Since its establishment, the Agency has delivered its services in times of relative calm in the Middle East, and in times of hostilities. It has fed, housed and clothed tens of thousands of fleeing refugees and at the same time educated and given health care to hundreds of thousands of young refugees.

UNRWA is unique in terms of its long-standing commitment to one group of refugees and its contributions to the welfare and human development of four generations of Palestine refugees. Originally envisaged as a temporary organization, the Agency has gradually adjusted its programmes to meet the changing needs of the refugees. Today, UNRWA is the main provider of basic services - education, health, relief and social services - to over 4.1 million registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East.

IDF Soldiers Prevent a Grenade Attack
11:45 Oct 04, '04 / 19 Tishrei 5765


(IsraelNN.com) IDF soldiers operating in Jebalya, in the northern Gaza region, shot and killed an Arab attacker who attempted to throw a grenade at the military force a short time ago. There were no injuries among Israeli troops.

The head of UNRWA, Peter Hansen, lodged a strong protest on Monday. He said the agency had determined the footage showed the object being loaded into the vehicle was a stretcher, and demanded an apology from Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.

"It is appalling that with the serious conflict now raging in the northern Gaza Strip ... the government of Israel would put out such deliberately inciteful, false and malicious propaganda," Hansen said in a statement.

A Foreign Ministry source said Israel stood by its accusation. Military officials said the footage had been analysed by experts and they were certain it was a rocket.

Jerry,

I don't understand how people like yourself, who live in the region, can hold to such extreme viewpoints when the cost is so high.

That so many people aren't willing to see past hatred and fear means that the violence will continue and people will keep dying.

I wish you would all just stop!

Explosive news... in the truest sense of the word and the UN says they investigate,yet.

On Tuesday, the military removed the video from its Web site.

"The Israeli Defense Forces are reviewing the original analysis of the footage, in which UNRWA vehicles are seen involved in suspicious activity in the combat zone in Gaza," an army statement said.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a study of the video indicated the object may not have been a rocket and could have been a stretcher. The official said no definite conclusion has been reached.

...

Burchard [UNRWA spokesperson] said UNRWA was able to confirm quickly that the object was a stretcher. ``We are therefore quite astounded that the IDF, with its superior technology, was not able to do so before launching its campaign,'' he said.

The claims may have endangered UNRWA staff, Burchard added. ``Once an allegation is out there, it maybe gives soldiers the inclination to shoot first before asking questions,'' he said.