Haaretz
Tamuz 7, 5766
Switzerland said Monday
that Israel has been violating international law in its Gaza offensive by
heavy destruction and endangering civilians in acts of collective
punishment banned under the Geneva conventions on the conduct of
warfare.
"A number of actions by the Israel Defense Forces in their
offensive against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of
proportionality and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment,
which is forbidden," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.
"There is no doubt that Israel has not taken the
precautions required of it in international law to protect the civilian
population and infrastructure," it said. The statement did not name the
Geneva Conventions, but it referred to provisions of the 1949 treaty,
which is regarded as the cornerstone of international law on the
obligations of warring and occupying powers.
Switzerland, as the
depository of the conventions, has a responsibility to call meetings if it
finds general problems with the implementation of the treaty, but it does
not have any special powers to interpret the document.
Both the
principle of proportionality and the ban on collective punishment are
found in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which spells out the obligations of
occupying powers toward the civilian population under their
control.
Israel has used tanks, troops, gunboats and aircraft to
attack the Gaza area over the past week to press militants to free
captured IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit.
When it launched its first
large-scale military action in Gaza since the disengagement from the
coastal strip last summer, Israel's declared purpose was to press
militants to release Shalit. In statements since, government officials
have said they also mean to disable the Hamas government and stop gunmen
from launching Qassam rockets at southern Israel.
"They have
criticized us even though we are showing restraint," Aviv Shir-On,
Israel's ambassador in Bern, told The Associated Press. "We are
disappointed that the Swiss government did not issue such statements when
Israel's civilian population was constantly under attack from the Gaza
Strip."
Shir-On said the criticism was unfair when Israel was
supplying people in Gaza with electricity, water, fresh food and necessary
medicine even though Hamas was sworn to the Israel's
destruction.
Switzerland also called for the "rapid release" of
Shalit, but said Israel had an obligation "to respect international
humanitarian law in the measures it undertakes to liberate the captured
soldier."
It said Israel's destruction last week of the main Gaza
electricity power station and its attack on the office of the Palestinian
prime minister was unjustified. It also urged Israel to free Hamas
legislators, including eight ministers who have been seized.
"The
arbitrary arrests of a large number of democratically elected
representatives of the people and ministers ... cannot be justified," the
statement said.
Switzerland said it had earmarked an additional 1
million francs ($820,000) to provide medical supplies to civilians in
Gaza.