Middle East Inside Line: Dubai Assassination, Hamas Spy Scandal, Barak with UN

The Dubai Assassination: On Monday, Dubai officials announced they had new suspects in the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Following the announcement, Australia's Government called the Israeli ambassador to receive further information: three of the 15 suspects held Australian passports.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said:

We will not be silent on this matter. It is a matter of deep concern. It really goes to the integrity and fabric of the use of state documents, which passports are, for other purposes.

Israel-Palestine: Life in Gaza “Like Walking on Broken Glass”
Israel Interview: Netanyahu on Israeli Culture and Security (22 February)
Middle East Inside Line: Sarkozy on Palestine State, Barak in US for Iran Talks, Son of Hamas Founder Spied for Israel

The Son of Hamas Spy Scandal: The Haaretz article alleging that Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was a long-time Israeli spy continues to provoke. Hamas parliament member Mushir a-Masri said that the story was not worthy of a response and called it Zionist propaganda.


Israel's Barak with UN on Middle East Issues: On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss alleged Iranian and Syrian arms shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Iranian nuclear issue, the situation in Gaza, and the Goldstone Report on the 2008/09 Gaza War.

Barak said that Hezbollah's 40,000 missiles serve only to harm Israeli civilians. On Iran, the Israeli minister insisted, "Nuclear weapons in Iran will change the strategic balance in the region. We must impose harsh sanctions, with a defined time frame, on Iran."

Barak said that Israel is working to ease the lives of Gaza's residents and to prevent humanitarian problems. However, Ban Ki-moon urged Israel to allow construction materials to enter Gaza as part of plans to rebuild facilities.

Barak closed with criticism of the Goldstone Report:

We are talking about a tendentious, one-sided report that harms the ability of democracies to fight against terror organizations, particularly those that operate from populated areas. The only accomplishment of the Goldstone report is that it strengthens terror organizations and their cynical use of civilians as human shields.

Israel: Army Commander Undermines Claims on "Proper Conduct" in Gaza War

With two Israeli army officers, "disciplined" for firing artillery shells towards a densely-populated area near a UN compound, still not facing a criminal investigation by the Israeli Defense Forces, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon confirmed on Thursday that he had received a full internal report from the Israelis.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday:

This document completely expresses Israel's commitment to conduct an honest internal probe according to the standards of international law. Despite the difficult conditions of fighting against Hamas terror, Israel has stringently abided by international norms and will continue to do in the future - though our foremost obligation is to protect our citizens.

However, The Independent of London reported a confession from a high-ranking Israeli official who talked to Israel's Yedhiot Ahronot. The officer said that the Israeli army went beyond its previous rules of engagement, concerning the protection of civilian lives, to minimise military casualties during the Operation Cast Lead. The senior commander said:

Means and intentions is a definition that suits an arrest operation in the Judaea and Samaria [West Bank] area... We need to be very careful because the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] was already burnt in the second Lebanon war from the wrong terminology. The concept of means and intentions is taken from different circumstances. Here [in Cast Lead] we were not talking about another regular counter-terrorist operation. There is a clear difference.

According to the newspaper, a more junior officer who served during the operation described the new policy as one of "literally zero risk to the soldiers" as a part of the policy to avoid the heavy military casualties of the 2006 Lebanon war.