RAMALLAH: Amnesty International yesterday accused Israel of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip through the reckless use of weapons and wanton destruction during its three-week war on Palestinians early this year.
In a 105-page report entitled “Operation Cast Lead: 22 Days of Death and Destruction,” the British rights organization also accused Hamas of committing war crimes by firing rockets at Israeli civilian population. Both Israel and Hamas denounced the report as unbalanced.
Releasing the report, Donatela Rovera, Amnesty’s chief researcher for Israel and the Palestinian territories, said that although the Gaza war was not an illegal operation per se, many of the attacks carried out by the Israeli forces during the operation violated international law. According to the report, 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the offensive, which lasted from Dec. 27, 2008 to Jan. 18, 2009.
Of them, 300 were children, more than 115 women and 85 men over the age of 50.
Amnesty said that another 200 men who were under 50 were unarmed civilians who were not combatants. Some 5,000 Palestinians were wounded during the fighting. Amnesty International also found that more than 3,000 Palestinian homes and hundreds of other properties were destroyed during the fighting and more than 20,000 structures damaged.
In addition to private homes, the Israeli forces destroyed factories, workshops, animal farms, orchards, government buildings, police stations and prisons.
“Much of the destruction was wanton and resulted from direct attacks on civilian objects as well as indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilian objects.
“Hundreds of civilians were killed in attacks carried out using high-precision weapons — air delivered bombs and missiles and tank shells. Others, including women and children, were shot at short range when posing no threat to the lives of Israeli soldiers.”
Rovera said Amnesty was concerned by two aspects of the Israeli forces’ use of weapons. One question was: How did such high-precision weaponry fired from tanks and aerial vehicles cause so much collateral damage and casualties to the civilian population, considering how accurate they are?
The report charged that the Israeli Army deliberately carried out direct attacks on civilian targets and medical personnel and vehicles using these high-precision weapons.
The other question was: Why, at the same time, did the Israeli Army use far less precise weapons, including mortars, artillery and white phosphorus, in densely populated residential areas?
The report rejected Israel’s charge that Hamas systematically used medical facilities, vehicles and uniforms as a cover for military operations, saying it had provided no evidence to prove its case.
Amnesty said the pattern of attacks and statements by members and leaders of Palestinian groups also indicated that they have no qualms about launching attacks against civilians.
Such attacks constitute war crimes. At a news conference in Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri rejected the accusation and said the report “was unfair and unbalanced since it puts the victim and executioner on an equal footing.”
— With input from Hisham Abu Taha
