I will attempt to respond to the queries raised by Deputies Costello, Mulcahy, Timmins, Dooley, Senator Leyden and to the Chairman's helpful conclusion. Nothing compares to direct human experience and Amnesty International would be delighted to offer any briefings to any of the committee's delegation going to Israel and the Occupied Territories next week. We would also be able to put delegates in contact with local human rights activists on both sides of the territories. We can also assist in any debriefings when the delegation returns.
I want to be clear about Amnesty's position. We welcome the posing of the question by the committee on whether Article 2 has been breached. In 2000, since the association agreement came in, the human rights situation in Gaza has deteriorated substantially. Since the conflict between southern Israel and Gaza, we have seen 1,400 people killed, war crimes on both sides, disproportionate and indiscriminate violations by the Israeli authorities and a continuing humanitarian crisis.
Amnesty International cannot adjudicate on Article 2. That is for the political process. We need to keep our comments to what exists under human rights law. There is no doubt, however, of human rights violations occurring in Israel and Gaza by the Israelis. There is no doubt the Israeli authorities have been responsible for war crimes. There is no doubt there is a culture of impunity when it comes to Israel. There is a 107-page report on this.
I mean no disrespect when I say the question on whether Article 2 has been breached is a political one. However, if Amnesty were asked has Israel contravened the Geneva Convention, we would say "Yes". The same answer would apply to the convention on the prevention of torture. If we were asked has Israel been responsible for war crimes as far back as 2000, when it deliberately bombed water supplies into Gaza, we would say, "Yes".
This is the undisputable evidence we are presenting. What are we, as citizens of Europe, going to do about this to make the association agreement strong? We would not adjudicate on it because it is a line of text that does not have the sufficient data to hold them to account. Whether the Government chooses to degrade the trading status is a political judgment for the Government. It is not within the gift of Amnesty International to adjudicate on this.
One can imagine the situations in which we find ourselves. One of the delegates on our recent mission to Gaza is Brian Dooley. For him to stand with any authority in front of either the Israeli authorities or Hamas, we need to stick to the rule of international law. There is no question in our mind that Israel has been responsible for violations of humanitarian and international law.
Neither will Amnesty make an adjudication on the two-state solution and President Obama's direction. Amnesty only talks about the violation of human rights law. Amnesty does not have Dáil privilege, as the Chairman pointed out earlier. Even if we did have political comments to make in a private capacity, we would not be making them here.
In any human rights situation, there is no real substitute for the personal experience. We have been highly critical of Hamas, not only for the war crimes inflicted on the people of Israel but also for how it and other Palestinian armed groups have treated women. In some cases, women have been flogged for walking down a street with a man, people have been held illegally and tortured. I have not been in Israel. However, David White and the team that wrote this report have been to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories many times. I wish the delegation well with its mission.