Human Rights Watch documents Israeli war crimes in Gaza assault Human Rights Watch (HRW) has declared on Thursday that three Israeli attacks on schools sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza constitute violations of the rules of war. 45 civilian casualties, of whom 17 children, were reported in the strikes that have been documented in-depth by HRW for the first time. Fred Abrahams, HRW special advisor, stated that the Israeli military carried out attacks on or near three well-marked schools where it knew hundreds of people were taking shelter, killing and wounding scores of civilians,” and Israel has offered no convincing explanation for these attacks on schools where people had gone for protection and the resulting carnage.” Of the three attacks investigated, those in Beit Hanoun and Jabalya did not appear to have a military objective or were unlawfully indiscriminate. The third, in Rafah, was unloawfully disproportionate. Unlawful attacks carried out wilfully, ie deliberately or recklessly, are war crimes. The laws of war require Israel to investigate possible war crimes credibly and punish those responsible. The Israeli military announced five criminal investigations however HRW stated that Israel has a long record of failing to undertake credible investigations into allegations of war crimes. Details on the attacks at Human Rights Watch hrw.org/news/2014/09/11/israel-depth-look-gaza-school-attacks
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 01:32:57 +0000
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