Amnesty International accuses militants in Gaza of war crimes in 2014 conflict

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Amnesty International accuses militants in Gaza of war crimes in 2014 conflict

Associated Press
Thursday 26 March 2015 05.11 GMT

Amnesty International said in a report Thursday that Palestinian militant organisations had committed war crimes during the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict, by killing both Israeli and Palestinian civilians using indiscriminate projectiles.

The report comes after two other reports issued in late 2014 that accused Israel of war crimes for attacks on multi-story civilian buildings and attacks on Palestinian residential homes during the war.

The 50-day Gaza war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian and UN officials. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.

Palestinian militants, including the armed wing of Hamas, launched unguided rockets and mortars which cannot be aimed at a specific target and are a breach of international law, the human rights group said.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/26/amnesty-international-accuses-militants-in-gaza-of-war-crimes-in-2014-conflict

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

1. Israel should bring this up before the ICC.

[guillaumeb]

2. if they only recognized the ICC that might be an option.

Israel has ratified the main human rights conventions; however, it is not a party to any additional protocols except the Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflicts. It has also not accepted the jurisdiction of any of the treaty body committees; thus, individual communications cannot be considered. In addition, Israel made important reservations on the conventions it ratified.

http://www.geneva-academy.ch/RULAC/international_treaties.php?id_state=113

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

4. Yes, I know.

[oberliner]

5. War Crimes Indictment Filed Against Hamas Head at ICC

The Shurat Hadin civil rights group has announced it has submitted a criminal indictment against Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal at the International Criminal Court in the Hague (ICC).

Shurat Hadin, which prosecutes international terrorist groups and their supporters, said the indictment was in response to the summary execution of 38 Palestinians in Gaza during the final days of Operation Protective Edge. Such executions without any legal due process is a clear violations of international humanitarian law, the NGO pointed out.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/184704#.VRTR37qprzI

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

6. And yet Shurat Hadin is not an official arm of the Israeli Government.

[Little Tich]

7. I really don't like Shurat Hadin.

But as you haven't actually endorsed them, I'm not going to criticize you. But please, take a look at the wikipedia entry on them.

[azurnoir]

3. excerpt from Amnesty's report complete report at the included link

All the rockets used by Palestinian armed groups are unguided projectiles which cannot be accurately aimed at specific targets and are inherently indiscriminate; using such weapons is prohibited under international law and their use constitutes a war crime. Mortars are also imprecise munitions and should never be used to attack military targets located in or near civilian areas.

“Palestinian armed groups must end all direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks. They must also take all feasible precautions to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip from the effects of such attacks. This includes taking all possible measures to avoid locating fighters and arms within or near densely populated areas,” said Philip Luther.

At least 1,585 Palestinian civilians, including more than 530 children, were killed in Gaza, and at least 16,245 homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by Israeli attacks during the conflict, some of which also amounted to war crimes.

“The devastating impact of Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians during the conflict is undeniable, but violations by one side in a conflict can never justify violations by their opponents,” said Philip Luther.

“The fact that Palestinian armed groups appear to have carried out war crimes by firing indiscriminate rockets and mortars does not absolve the Israeli forces from their obligations under international humanitarian law. The war wrought an unprecedented level of death, destruction and injury on the 1.8 million people in the Gaza Strip, and some of the Israeli attacks must be investigated as war crimes.

“The Israeli and Palestinian authorities must both co-operate with the probes of the UN Commission of Inquiry and the International Criminal Court to end decades of impunity that have perpetuated a cycle of violations in which civilians on both sides have paid a heavy price.”

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/palestinian-armed-groups-killed-civilians-on-both-sides-in-attacks-amounting-to-war-crimes

[oberliner]

8. Unlawful and Deadly: Rocket and Mortar Attacks by Palestinian Armed Groups During the 2014 Gaza/Isra

Palestinian armed groups displayed a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians by repeatedly launching indiscriminate rockets and mortars towards civilian areas in Israel during the conflict in July and August 2014, said Amnesty International in a new report.
Unlawful and Deadly: Rocket and Mortar Attacks by Palestinian Armed Groups During the 2014 Gaza/Israel Conflict provides evidence that several attacks launched from inside the Gaza Strip amount to war crimes. Six civilians in Israel, including a four-year-old boy, were killed in such attacks during the 50-day conflict. In the deadliest incident believed to have been caused by a Palestinian attack, 11 children were among 13 Palestinian civilians killed when a projectile fired from within the Gaza Strip landed in the al-Shati refugee camp.
All the rockets used by Palestinian armed groups are unguided projectiles which cannot be accurately aimed at specific targets and are inherently indiscriminate. Using such weapons is prohibited under international law and their use constitutes a war crime. Mortars are also imprecise munitions and should never be used to attack military targets located in or near civilian areas.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/unlawful-and-deadly-rocket-and-mortar-attacks-by-palestinian-armed-groups-during-the-2014-gazaisrael

[azurnoir]

9. firing indiscriminate rockets and mortars does not absolve the Israeli forces

http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/unlawful-and-deadly-rocket-and-mortar-attacks-by-palestinian-armed-groups-during-the-2014-gazaisrael