Amnesty International calls out Israel on Gaza war crimes

International rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday accused the Israeli military of committing war crimes during the Gaza offensive this past summer, and urged an investigation into the issue.

The destruction of multi-story building during the final four days of the offensive violated international humanitarian law, Amnesty International said in a report.

“All the evidence we have shows this large-scale destruction was carried out deliberately and with no military justification. War crimes must be independently and impartially investigated and those responsible should be brought to justice in fair trials”, Philip Luther, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa programme, said.

Luther added that evidence collected for the report included statements made by the Israeli military that indicate that the attacks were “a collective punishment against the people of Gaza” conceived to destroy their livelihoods.

Israeli authorities have not responded to Amnesty International’s statement. They have so far refused to cooperate with the UN’s probe into possible war crimes during the aggression, accusing it of displaying bias.

The Israeli military has launched several investigations into the criminal incidents during the war, including attacks on a UN school which led to the death of 15 people. Critics argue that the investigations will not be independent, and therefore practically useless.

One of the notable building destroyed was Rafah’s Municipal Commercial Centre, which contained offices, a medical clinic and a shopping mall, providing livelihoods to several hundreds of families, the report said.

The report also said that Israeli authorities suspected that one building housed a command centre of Palestinian movement Hamas; however, according to Luther, the Israeli military still “had an obligation to choose means and methods of attack that would minimize harm to civilians and their property”.

“The Israeli army has previously conducted air strikes on specific apartments in high-rise buildings without their complete destruction”, he said.

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