Palestine and Israel 'guilty of war crimes'

AMNESTY International yesterday accused Israeli soldiers operating in the Palestinian territories of committing war crimes, including unlawful killings, torture, destruction of property, obstruction of medical assistance and targeting of medical personnel.

The London-based human rights group's report for 2004 also condemned the deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians by Palestinian militants as a crime against humanity.

The report said that over the past year, Israeli forces killed more than 700 Palestinians, including 150 children.