In an op-ed for The Times on 13 October, Melanie Phillips cited analysis by Israel’s Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre by way of challenging what she described as the Hamas falsehood that the vast majority of fatalities in Gaza were civilians. Like others inclined to cite the Centre, Phillips presented their statistics as reliable, while smearing the work of the UN and Gaza-based Health Ministry officials. So what about Melanies own source? Described by one pro-Israel publication as a body associated with Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate (bit.ly/1u0Zuiy), and by another, as the public face of Israeli intelligence (bit.ly/ZOsNvg), the Centre acknowledged in 2006 that it receives some Israeli government financing (nyti.ms/1tN3KXt). That same year, the Centre was described by AP as enjoying close ties with the countrys military leadership, having compiled a report on the 2006 Lebanon war in conjunction with lawyers from the army and Foreign Ministry (wapo.st/1tiEdDi). The Centre even maintained an office at the Defense Ministry. Israeli security correspondent Yossi Melman has written on how the Centre became a pipeline for information and assessments that the Military Intelligence research division does not want directly associated with it (bit.ly/1vQMsHv). In fact, “the symbiotic connection” between the Centre and Military Intelligence aroused criticism on the basis that the latter should not be connected to a propaganda body. Meanwhile, there are the following sources regarding the civilian death toll: UN: 2,131 killed, including 1,473 confirmed civilians – or 69 percent. (UN OCHA, 4 September 2014 bit.ly/1t66TQ3) Palestinian Centre for Human Rights-Gaza: civilian fatalities 77 percent of the death toll. (PCHR, 27 August 2014 bit.ly/1tr60SY) Sources in Israel’s defense establishment say 1,300 of those killed were innocent civilians – or 61 percent. (Ynetnews, 3 October 2014 bit.ly/1sToUT7) Israel’s intelligence branches estimate the number of terrorists killed in Gaza at 600 to 700 – making a civilian death toll of 67 percent. (Haaretz, 6 October 2014 bit.ly/Z7Pji1) Note: 542 Palestinians died in 70 recorded incidents of homes bombed or shelled with occupants inside. Of those fatalities, 45 percent were children, 23 percent were women under-60, and 5 percent were over-60 (a total of 73 percent). (B’Tselem bit.ly/1p3fQ5U)
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 06:57:15 +0000
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