A/HRC/10/20 page 8 about the bombing of United Nations schools in Gaza, he was quoted as saying: “Sometimes in the heat of fire and the exchange of fire, we do make mistakes. We’re not infallible.” This is deeply misleading in its characterization of the war zone. It is not a matter of mistakes and fallibility, but rather a massive assault on a densely populated urbanized setting where the defining reality could not but subject the entire civilian population to an inhumane form of warfare that kills, maims and inflicts mental harm that is likely to have long-term effects, especially on children that make up more than 50 per cent of the Gazan population. IV. NON-EXHAUSTION OF DIPLOMATIC REMEDIES, DISPROPORTIONALITY, NON-DEFENSIVE NATURE OF THE ATTACKS 11. It is a requirement of international customary law, as well as of the Charter of the United Nations, Article 2, paragraph 4, interpreted in the light of Article 1, paragraph 1, that recourse to force to resolve an international dispute should be a last resort after the exhaustion of diplomatic remedies and peaceful alternatives, even assuming for a moment that an occupying Power can claim a right to self-defence (see paragraph 28 below). Of course, such an analysis presupposes the rejection of the Israeli contention that Gaza has not been legally “occupied” since the implementation of the disengagement plan in 2005. In the context of protecting Israeli society from rockets fired from Gaza, the evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that the ceasefire in place as of 19 June 2008 had been an effective instrument for achieving this goal, as measured by the incidence of rockets fired and with regard to Israeli casualties sustained. 12. The graph below, based on Israeli sources, shows the number of Palestinian rockets and mortar shells fired each month in 2008, with the period of the ceasefire stretching basically from its initiation on 19 June to its effective termination on 4 November, when Israel struck a lethal blow in Gaza that reportedly killed at least six Hamas operatives. It dramatically demonstrates the extent to which the ceasefire was by far the most secure period with respect to the threats posed by the rockets. Number of Palestinian rockets and mortar shells fired in 2008