Sunday, December 7, 2014
UN Report: Israel in Regular Contact with Syrian Rebels including ISIS
A report submitted to
the United Nations Security Council by UN observers in the Golan Heights over
the past 18 months shows that Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have been in regular
contact with Syrian rebels, including Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
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| Israeli soldiers stand near the border with Syria in the occupied Golan Heights as they prepare to evacuate a wounded Syrian Reuters |
Citing the UN report, Haaretz noted that there have been several instances
detailed in the report that shows close ties between Syrian armed rebels and
Israeli army.
According to the UN
report, a person wounded on 15 September "was taken by armed members of
the opposition across the ceasefire line, where he was transferred to a
civilian ambulance escorted by an IDF vehicle."
Moreover, from 9-19
November, the "UNDOF observed at least 10 wounded persons being
transferred by armed members of the opposition from the Bravo side across the ceasefire
line to IDF."
As per the details
released by the Israel's health ministry, so far some 1,000 Syrians have been
treated in four Israeli hospitals. Besides the civilians, some are members of
the secular Free Syrian Army rebel group.
Israel initially had
maintained that it was treating only civilians. However, reports claimed that
earlier last month members of Israel's Druze minority protested the
hospitalisation of wounded Syrian fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra
Front in Israel.
A statement issued by
a group of Druze activists accused the Israeli government of supporting radical
Sunni factions such as the Islamic State (ISIS).
Replying to a question by i24News on whether Israel has given medical assistance to
members of al-Nusra and Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (ISIS),
a Israeli military spokesman's office said: "In the past two years the
Israel Defence Forces have been engaged in humanitarian, life-saving aid to
wounded Syrians, irrespective of their identity."
The UN report also
laid out instances where in Israeli army was seen interacting with armed
rebels. In one incident, the report claimed that the IDF gave some boxes to the
Syrian armed rebels.
By Johnlee Varghese December 7, 2014 17:06 IST
By Johnlee Varghese December 7, 2014 17:06 IST
10,000 Palestinian Children 'Tortured' by Israeli Forces over Years, Says PLO
Israel has detained
about 10,000 Palestinian children since 2000 and they were subjected to
humiliation, torture and solitary confinement, according to Palestinian
Liberation Organisation (PLO).
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| About 10,000 Palestinian children have reportedly been detained and subjected to torture by the Israeli army.Reuters File |
A senior PLO official responsible for securing the release of children
and other detained youths told Press TV that some 10,000 children from the West Bank and
East al-Quds (Jerusalem) have been detained by Israeli armed forces over
the years.
Issa Qaraqe, head of
the PLO's committee on detainees, was speaking on the occasion of the 25th
anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the
UN General Assembly.
He stated that the
children's rights are violated "regularly," and they are often
subjected to humiliation and torture by the Israeli army.
"Israel does not
provide any immunity for children and regularly violates international
agreements on children's rights by humiliating and torturing them and denying
them fair trials," he said.
Qaraqe noted
that 95% of children, many of them as young as seven or eight, have been
subjected to torture. Currently, some 300 children are said to languish at
detention camps in Israel.
Earlier in May, a report released by an international non-governmental
organisation, Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCI-P), had found
that most children detained by Israeli forces were taken in for stone throwing,
a charge that can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
The monitoring agency
that focuses on the treatment of children in the areas of conflict, found that
every year about 500 to 700 minors are taken prisoners by Israel.
It also reported that
the Israeli military has used solitary confinement as a form of interrogation
and intimidation in nearly 22% of recorded cases. The children put in solitary
confinement have been kept locked in for 10 days on an average, with the
longest period being 29 days, the report stated.
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