- Israel Defense Forces sources have admitted that Palestinian
claims of the systematic destruction of property, particularly computers,
during the recent military operations in Ramallah are, for the most part,
true. "There were indeed wide-scale, ugly phenomena of vandalism,"
a senior military sources told Ha'aretz yesterday.
-
- And while another military source said that the army
had yet to undertake a full investigation into the matter, there are already
many individual cases that are being prosecuted through the military justice
system.
-
- Within the context of Operation Defensive Shield, an
intelligence unit specialized in systematically going through public institutions
of the Palestinian Authority and collecting hard disks from computers
in offices, for the purposes of examining them based on the assumption
that some would contain information on terrorist activity.
-
- The IDF sources explained that because various PA institutions,
including civil authorities, were involved in terror, some of the computers
had indeed included valuable intelligence.
-
-
- However, the sources admitted that in many cases the
searches had turned into systematic vandalism, without any justification.
-
- "It was not an order from above," said a senior
source, "but that's how it was understood in the field. The infantry,
both the conscripts and the reservists who accompanied the intelligence
teams, understood that they were allowed - or indeed expected - to destroy
the property in the offices."
-
- "The result," the source continued, "was
damage running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Soldiers smashed
computer monitors and destroyed keyboards. There were places in which
bank branches were destroyed and automatic tellers were raided. In some
cases, theft accompanied the vandalism. It was significant damage, widespread
and totally illogical."
-
- The source said that while the extent of the damage
was clear, the IDF had yet to undertake a serious investigation into what
had taken place.
-
- A reserve officer who played a senior role in the Ramallah
area said that he believed most of the damage had been done during hunts
for wanted men and munitions. "We found weapons and sabotage equipment
in what were seemingly civil institutions," the officer said. "There
were instances in which soldiers broke open doors because nobody was
inside. Clearly there was looting, but most of the damage was done during
the hunt for people and weapons. This was war, not a lab operation."
-
- A veteran intelligence officer said the explanation
for the IDF's behavior was to be found in the difference between the fighting
in the territories and previous wars in Lebanon and the Sinai. "Those
were clear-cut enemy territorie,; and it was clear to the intelligence
units that they would take everything because everything was military equipment.
In the Palestinian Authority, everything was mixed up - civilian, security,
terrorist. It is very difficult to make the distinction. Some of the damage
was done by the unit, and some by other soldiers, at their own initiative."
-
- Reservists who served in the Ramallah and Bethlehem
areas said they had witnessed many instances of deliberate damage caused
by soldiers to Palestinian property. Some also spoke of cases of looting.
-
- "The extent of the looting is much greater than
could have been expected in advance," a senior legal source told
Ha'aretz. "This is an ugly and serious phenomenon."
-
- Some cases involved two or three soldiers who had worked
together, the source said, noting that reservists as well as conscripts
had been involved. Some of the suspects were combat troops, the source
added; and in certain cases, military defenders had reservations about
representing suspects due to the nature of the crimes.
-
- Most of the incidents are expected to end in plea bargains,
with the convicted serving prison sentences. The majority of the looting
took place in Ramallah, though there were reports of instances in Bethlehem
as well. Most of the cases are in Central Command's JAG unit.
-
- http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShA
|