Roof knocking

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Roof knocking is the equivalent of a warning shot for aerial bombing and the practice of warning inhabitants of a building before it is bombed to give the inhabitants time to flee the attack.[1] The practice has been invented and used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) before attacking buildings that they suspect contain weapons.[2][3][4] The term "roof knocking" (Hebrew: <templatestyles src="Script/styles_hebrew.css" />הקש בגג‎[5]) or "knock on the roof" has also been used to describe the IDF practice of firing a non-explosive or low-yield device at a roof to get people there to leave.[6][7][8]

History

After the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, when making arrests on the ground were close to impossible, IDF started using destruction of military infrastructure as deterrent to not attack Israeli targets. The IDF sought a method to minimize harm to Gaza civilians.[9] As early as 2006 the IDF had the practice of warning the inhabitants of a building that was about to be attacked.[10] Roof knocking was used during the 2008–2009 Gaza War, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, and Operation Protective Edge in 2014. In the six months prior to its use, Israel collected data on Hamas members, which they used to issue warnings.[4] Typically, Israeli intelligence officers and Shin Bet security servicemen contacted residents of a building in which they suspected storage of military assets and told them that they had 10–15 minutes to flee the attack,[2][8][11][12][13] although in some cases the delay has been as little as five minutes.[14]

The Israeli Government reported that the warning systems were not perfect but still highly effective. Aerial video surveillance by IDF forces confirmed many times the departure of civilians from targeted areas prior to an attack, as a direct result of the warnings.[15]

In November 2014 the most senior US military official, General Martin Dempsey, said Israel "did some extraordinary things to limit civilian casualties" during Operation Protective Edge. He gave Roof Knocking as an example to efforts by Israel to minimize Civilian casualties in Gaza.[16]

Controversy

The practice has been shown to be controversial, as many human rights and news organizations have shown the 'roof knocks' to strike and kill inhabitants.[13] In July, 2014, Amnesty International called for a United Nations investigation into war crimes committed by Israeli fighters, and Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Programme Director for the organization, condemned the practice.[17]

The New York Times stated that according to Israel, Hamas asked civilians to stand on the roofs of buildings to dissuade Israeli pilots from attacking.[7] These claims are supported by video footage of an interview with Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri.[18] Hamas denied these claims. Many reporters, including from the BBC,[19] the Independent[20] and the Guardian[21] have said that they have found no evidence of Hamas forcing Palestinians to stay and become unwilling human shields.

Amnesty International has reported in a statement that it "does not have evidence at this point" that Palestinian civilians have been intentionally used by Hamas or Palestinian armed groups during the current hostilities to "shield" specific locations or military personnel or equipment from Israeli attacks". It additionally said that "public statements referring to entire areas are not the same as directing specific civilians to remain in their homes as "human shields" for fighters, munitions, or military equipment" and that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups ... did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives ..., all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply." Human Rights Watch said many of the attacks on civilian targets appeared to be "disproportionate" and "indiscriminate".

In some cases, residents that were warned about an impending bombing climbed up voluntarily to their roofs. [2] When Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas military commander, was warned but didn't leave his home, he and his family of 15 were killed in the subsequent bombing.[2][4] When faced with similar situations, IDF commanders have either bombed, called off the bombing or launched a newly developed, relatively harmless, non-explosive missile at empty areas of the roof, in order to frighten the people gathered on the roof into leaving the building.[1][7][22] In several instances, the IDF has used a sound bomb to warn civilians before striking homes.[1][undue weight? – discuss] In many other cases, houses in Gaza Strip were bombed without any warning. For example, in July 12, 2014 an Israeli airstrike without any warning on the home of Gaza's police chief, Tayseer Al-Batsh, and a nearby mosque as evening prayers ended, killed 18 civilians including children and injured 45 others.[23][24]

The Israeli Government reported that the warning systems were not perfect but still highly effective. Aerial video surveillance by IDF forces confirmed many times the departure of civilians from targeted areas prior to an attack, as a direct result of the warnings.[15]

Psychological warfare

According to the Israeli army, striking homes used for weapons storage, when sufficient warning is given to the residents, falls within the boundaries of international law and is legitimate.[25] According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the warning of inhabitants by Israeli forces is psychological warfare[10] and after the first week of the Operation Cast Lead offensive, only 37 houses had been destroyed despite hundreds of warning calls, while no one can advise people not to take the threats seriously.[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-01-29
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-01-29 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "hp" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-01-29
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-01-29
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-01-29
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-01-29
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-09-06
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ "Jeremy Bowen's Gaza notebook: I saw no evidence of Hamas using Palestinians as human shields", New Statesman; accessed 28 July 2014.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ http://rt.com/news/172380-israel-air-strikes-gaza/
  24. ↑ http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/13/gaza-police-chief-survives-israeli-airstrike-on-family-home-but-bombs-kill-18-relatives-including-children/
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version 2009-01-29
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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