Wow, Israel under pressure from the world and running from war crime charges admit what we already know, they targeted and murdered children. The Israeli army murdered children in Gaza. Albiet Israel is only claiming it killed 189 children rather than the huge number of children they really murdered. Still, this admission proves that worldwide public opinion and outrage is taking it’s effect on Isarel. This admission, coupled with the fact that the Israeli Army, in fact, has a policy of killing children aged 12 and recently there was a report of Israel using children as human shields. It seems to me that a charge of war crimes is yet closer.
Israel admits killing 189 children in Gaza campaign
Israel's armed forces admitted on Wednesday that 189 Palestinian children under the age of 15 were killed during the assault on the Gaza Strip.
The first official figures released by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) of the casualties inflicted by the three-week campaign found that a total of 309 Palestinian civilians were killed.
The survey was disclosed as Benjamin Netanyahu, the incoming prime minister, presented himself as a peacemaker and assured Palestinians that his government would be their "partner". One day after enlisting the Labour Party into a broad coalition, embracing Left and Right, Mr Netanyahu focused on his plans to help the Palestinian economy.
"I think that the Palestinians should understand that they have in our government a partner for peace, for security and for rapid economic development of the Palestinian economy," said Mr Netanyahu
(I think the Palestinians know what you are Bibi, a liar and a right wing neo con Zionist not to be trusted, they also understand the kind of “peace” you want, the kind that comes when you exterminate all Palestinians and steal all their land, that is Israel’s version of peace)
But Mr Netanyahu did not go as far as to endorse a two-state solution, which forms the essential foundation for America's plans for a peace settlement. In the past, he has consistently opposed the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza.
Under the coalition deal with Labour, Mr Netanyahu's Right-wing Likud party will adhere to previous international agreements made by Israel. This formula may leave open a window for a deal on Palestinian statehood.
But Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator, said that Mr Netanyahu would be judged by results. "Any Israeli government that accepts the two-state solution, negotiates with us on all core issues without exception, and agrees to stop settlement activity will be a partner," he said.
Even as Mr Netanyahu was addressing the conference, however, Israel's Army Radio reported that he had agreed to build more homes inside Jewish settlements on the West Bank inside an area known as E-1, a few miles east of Jerusalem. Construction in this vital region could sever the West Bank in two, making the creation of a viable Palestinian state even more difficult.
The radio station said this was part of a secret agreement with Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, who is likely to be foreign minister in the new coalition.
The IDF's survey of the casualties in Gaza found that 1,370 Palestinians were killed in the campaign, which began on Dec 27 after years of rocket fire into Israel's southern cities. Of these, some 600 were guerrillas and another 320 were unidentified and designated simply as "unaffiliated".
The IDF defines anyone under the age of 15 as a child and admits that 189 were killed. The Palestinian authorities list anyone under the age of 18 as a child.
Another point of contention is over how to identify the 200 Palestinian policemen who were killed in the first day of the fighting during an Israeli air raid on a graduation ceremony in Gaza City. Israel categorises them as Hamas fighters on the grounds that Hamas governs Gaza and controls the police.
