Israeli officials have visited 26 countries searching for less-than-lethal weapons effective at ranges over 100 meters but came up empty-handed, Col. Daniel Reisner, head of the Israeli army international law department told an Israeli daily on Wednesday.
In a statement to the Jerusalem Post, Reisner denied charges by international human rights organizations and others that Israel has been using excessive force in dealing with “Palestinian violence.” He estimated that there has been an average of less than one Palestinian casualty per violent incident since the outbreak of the Intifada on September 28.
UN Human Rights chief Mary Robinson told reporters in Gaza the same day that there was a "disturbing pattern" to the bullet wounds received by Palestinians shot by Israeli soldiers during the daily clashes.
"There were a disproportionate number of injuries to the upper body, the head and many from live ammunition or rubber-bullets fired at very close quarters," she was quoted by AFP as saying.
Nevertheless, the Israeli military official said that Israel has been looking for ways to increase its arsenal of less-than-lethal equipment, which currently includes tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets.
The Israelis are not really using a “rubber” bullet, as already known. The variety of the weapon they use is mark III, the third generation of the bullets, which were invented by the English to curb clashes in Northern Ireland.
The rubber bullet is, in fact, made of steel coated with hard plastic, in contrast with mark I, which was made wholly from hard rubber.
According to statistics, from the beginning of the first Intifada in 1987 until the end of October 1998, at least fifty-seven Palestinians were killed by "rubber bullets". The dead included twenty-eight children under seventeen of whom, thirteen were younger than thirteen. Hundreds more Palestinians were injured.
Reisner said that the problem with these and other methods of riot control, such as plastic shields and water canon, is that they are only effective at a range of 50 to 100 meters. “This distance is too dangerous for soldiers because the rock-throwing demonstrations are often interspersed with gunfire.”
"You're not supposed to die when you disperse riots," said Reisner.
He said that one country had developed a less-than-lethal riot-control weapon that was effective at longer distances, but refused to sell it to Israel. But he said the army is now developing its own long-distance techniques – (Several Sources)
Reisner also accused Palestinian President Yasser Arafat of "throwing around wild figures" of Palestinian casualties, including hundreds dead and 9,000 wounded. He estimated the number of Palestinian dead at 150 to 170 and the number of wounded, based on international assessments, at 3,000-4,000. As of Monday, the total number of violent incidents since September 29 included 1,351 armed attacks and 3,734 attacks without weapons. "All of them were instigated by the Palestinians," he said.
According to a count by Albawaba.com, 212Palestinians were killed by the Israelis since September 29, including 13 in 1948 areas.
According to Reisner, the current situation, from a legal point of view, is not the same as during the Intifada. During the Intifada, Israel controlled 100 percent of the Palestinian population and 100 percent of the territory. The army faced a popular uprising and carried out police functions. “
"The current situation, the fact that a large percentage of the attacks are with live weapons, that we are facing a Palestinian Authority and security force which is taking an active part in hostilities has brought us to the conclusion that we are no longer in the realm of peace," he said. "It has more of the semblance of war than of peace. As a result, we are also applying the principles applicable to warfare and not peace,” Reisner said.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
