Israeli manufactured cluster bomb

Israel High Court Rejects Ban on Arms Sales to Azerbaijan as ‘Lacking Evidence’

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TEL AVIV (Jerusalem Post) — Israel’s High Court of Justice on Monday, October 13, rejected a petition to ban arms sales to Azerbaijan as “lacking evidence” to justify a hearing on whether they have been used for war crimes against Armenia.

Justice Yosef Elron said the petition lacked basic evidence to hold a hearing. The ruling, however, does not preclude a later petition presenting more comprehensive evidence.

Human-rights lawyer Itay Mack said he is calling on Israel to cease arms sales to Azerbaijan as a moral matter, but he lacked sufficient evidence to file a petition. It was filed by activist Elie Joseph, who has been on hunger strike over the issue.

Joseph presented news reports that 60 percent of Azerbaijan’s arms come from Israel and evidence of a potential airlift of weapons to Azerbaijan days before its current conflict with Armenia erupted. He also presented news reports and a report by Amnesty International with evidence that Azerbaijan is using Israeli drones to kill Armenians.

An Amnesty International investigation has also confirmed the use of banned Israeli-made M095 DPICM cluster munitions against civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The organization said the munitions appear to have been fired by Azerbaijani forces.

The Armenian side has been publishing video and photo evidence that prove the deployment of cluster munitions.

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Azerbaijan has been targeting civilian settlements from the very first moments of unleashing a major assault along the Karabakh line of contact on September 27.

As a result of Azerbaijan’s shelling and rocket fire, schools, kindergartens, residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in the various cities of Karabakh have been damaged.

Armenian Defense Ministry representative Artsrun Hovhannisyan has said that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are using Israeli-made LAR-160 multiple launch rocket systems to fire cluster munitions prohibited by humanitarian law into the civilians settlements of Karabakh.

Azerbaijan, with help from Turkey and mercenaries deployed by Ankara, launched a large-scale offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems.

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