ISRAELI ARMY COMMITTED WAR CRIMES: AMNESTY

Amnesty International 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 organisation 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 December 27, 2008 to January 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.