Israel’s protests ring hollow - Amnesty report

Amnesty International’s report accuses Israel of war crimes in its 50-day war with Hamas this summer, saying its military showed “callous indifference” to civilian safety when it launched air strikes on multi-storey family homes in Gaza.

Amnesty accused Israel of “shocking disregard” for civilian lives during Operation Protective Edge, a military offensive in the Palestinian territory. Amnesty details eight instances in which Israel attacked homes “without warning”, killing “at least 104 civilians including 62 children”.

Israel has rejected Amnesty’s findings, saying it produced “no evidence” to back up its claims in what was effectively “a propaganda tool for Hamas”, while ignoring documented war crimes perpetrated by Hamas. That may have some measure of truth in it, yet the Israelis will find it harder to reject figures released by the United Nations which shows that 1,523 civilians, including 519 children, were among more than 2,192 Palestinians who died during the operation.

In any event, the report does not ignore the other side of the equation, stating that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups fired thousands of indiscriminate rockets and mortar rounds into civilian areas of Israel, killing six civilians.

Amnesty was constrained by the refusal of both Israel and Egypt to allow it and other human rights monitors to enter the Gaza Strip. Until Israel allows direct independent investigations, its protestations will continue to ring hollow.