Human Rights Watch blamed on Tuesday Israel During the 11-day war against the Hamas militant group in May, the military carried out attacks that “obviously constituted a war crime”.
The international human rights organization issued a conclusion after investigating three Israeli airstrikes, which the organization said caused the death of 62 Palestinian civilians. It said that “there were no obvious military targets in the vicinity” of the attack.
The report also accused Palestinian militants of launching more than 4,000 unguided rockets and mortars at the Israeli population center, committing obvious war crimes. It stated that such attacks violated the “prohibition of deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on civilians.”
However, the report focuses on Israel’s actions in the fighting, and the organization said it will release a separate report on the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in August.
“The Israeli army attacked Gaza in May and destroyed the entire family. There were no obvious military targets nearby,” said Gerry Simpson, Deputy Director of Crisis and Conflict at Human Rights Watch.
He said that Israel “has always been reluctant to seriously investigate so-called war crimes,” and the fact that Palestine fired rockets into civilian areas in Israel emphasized the importance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) conducting ongoing investigations on both sides.
The Israeli military has repeatedly stated that its targets are military targets in Gaza. It stated that it took many precautions to avoid harm to civilians and blamed the civilian casualties on Hamas’ rocket attacks and other military operations in residential areas.
On May 10, Hamas launched a series of rockets into Jerusalem to support the Palestinians in protesting Israel’s hard-line security against the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which was built in a controversial area for Jews and Muslims, and threatened to expel nearby neighborhoods. Dozens of Palestinian families were attacked by Jewish settlers. During the battle, Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets and mortars at Israel, while Israel stated that it hit more than 1,000 targets allegedly related to militants in Gaza.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, a total of 254 people were killed in Gaza, including at least 67 children and 39 women. Hamas admitted that 80 militants had died, while Israel claimed that the number was much higher. Twelve civilians, including two children, and one soldier were killed in Israel.
The Human Rights Watch report investigated the Israeli air strikes. The most serious was a series of strikes on Al-Wahda Street, a central street in the center of Gaza, on May 16. Human Rights Watch said the air strikes destroyed three apartment buildings and killed 44 civilians, including 18 children and 14 women. Among the dead, 22 were members of a family of al-Kawlaks.
Israel stated that the target of the attack was a tunnel used by Hamas militants in the area, and the damage to houses was unintentional.
Human Rights Watch concluded in its investigation that Israel used the US-made GBU-31 precision-guided bomb, and Israel did not warn any residents to evacuate the area early. It has also found no evidence of military targets in the area.
“Attacks that are not directed at specific military targets are illegal,” it wrote.
The investigation also investigated the explosion on May 10 near Beit Hanoun, a town in northern Gaza that killed 8 people, including 6 children. It said that the two adults were civilians.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli military stated that the casualties were caused by rockets fired by militant groups, not Israeli air strikes. It released what it said was aerial photos of the launch site and landing zone about 7.5 kilometers (4 miles) away.
“This incident shows that terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are blatantly disregarding civilian lives,” it said.
However, based on an analysis of ammunition residues and witness statements, Human Rights Watch stated that there is evidence that the weapon is “a type of missile.”
“Human Rights Watch found no evidence of military targets at or near the attack site,” it said.
The New York-based organization said Israel refused to allow its investigators to enter Gaza. Instead, it said it relied on a field researcher in Gaza, as well as satellite imagery, expert review of photos of fragments of ammunition, and interviews conducted via video and telephone.
As the conflict with Hamas broke out again, Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip
The third attack investigated by Human Rights Watch occurred on May 15. An Israeli air strike destroyed a three-story building in the Gaza Shati refugee camp. The strike killed 10 people, including two women and eight children.
Human Rights Watch investigators determined that the building was hit by a US-made missile. It said Israel said senior Hamas officials were hiding in the building. However, the organization stated that there was no evidence that there were military targets at or near the location, and called for investigations into the existence of legitimate military targets and took “all feasible precautions” to avoid civilian casualties.
The May conflict was the fourth war between Israel and Hamas since the Islamic militant group opposed to the existence of Israel seized control of Gaza in 2007. Human Rights Watch, other human rights organizations and UN officials accused the two sides of committing war crimes in all regions. conflict.
Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of international crimes of apartheid and persecution because of discriminatory policies against Palestinians in Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel has denied these allegations.
In Tuesday’s report, it called on the United States to provide Israel with security assistance on the condition that it take “concrete and verifiable actions” to comply with international human rights law and investigate past violations.
It also called on the International Criminal Court to include the recent Gaza war in its ongoing investigation of possible war crimes committed by Israeli and Palestinian militant groups. Israel does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and stated that it is capable of investigating any potential misconduct by its military, and that the investigation by the International Criminal Court is unfair and politically motivated.
© 2021 Canadian Press
