Israelis and Palestinians accused of crimes against humanity

Amnesty International today 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 over the past year, Israeli forces killed more than 700 Palestinians, including 150 children.

“Most were killed unlawfully – in reckless shooting, shelling and air strikes in civilian residential areas; in extrajudicial executions and as a result of excessive use of force,” the report said.

“Certain abuses committed by the Israeli army constituted crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

It added that Israeli restrictions on Palestinians’ movements caused widespread poverty and unemployment, and that Israel had expanded illegal settlements.

The Israeli military would not comment. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the report seemed biased, although ministry officials had not yet read the entire document.

“This accusation of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank being involved in war crimes, that is something we reject,” Regev told The Associated Press.

“It would appear to be a very one-sided comment.”

Bassem Eid, head of the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, said Israeli abuses have been widely documented, not only by Amnesty and other international groups but also by Israeli organisations.

In more than four years of fighting, 3,477 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 1,034 on the Israeli side.

The Amnesty report said armed Palestinian groups killed 109 Israelis in 2004, including 67 civilians, eight of them children. Militants fired on Israeli motorists, and set off bombs in public places, including on buses and in malls and restaurants.

“The deliberate targeting of civilians by Palestinian armed groups constituted crimes against humanity,” it said.

Eid said the fact that Amnesty criticised both sides in the conflict was testament to its credibility and that any attacks on civilians were to be condemned.

“This is something which should be criticised all the time,” he said.

“As a human rights organisation we are protesting al the time any attacks on civilians, whatever their nationality or their race.”