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On Monday, international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of killing civilians in Gaza during their attempts to flee an afflicted neighborhood in the Palestinian Enclave. It also said that Israel’s actions would amount to a war crime.
The HRW report cited testimonials from Palestinians who were able to get out of the town of Khuza’a near Khan Yunis, after attacks on the town at the end of July.
“Israeli forces in the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a fired on and killed civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war in several incidents between July 23 and 25.Deliberate attacks on civilians who are not participating in the fighting are war crimes”, HRW said.
Civilians in the town faced “grave dangers”, including shelling, lack of medical care and imminent attacks from Israel.
The report also pointed out that Israeli forces warned people in the town to leave by July 21st, but “the failure of civilians to abide by warnings does not make them lawful targets of attack”.
“Warning families to flee fighting doesn’t make them fair targets just because they’re unable to do so, and deliberately attacking them is a war crime”, Sarah Leah Whitson from the HRW said.
Meanwhile, Russia on Monday said that it urged Israel to agree to a truce deal in Gaza. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, told his Israeli counterpart that Israel and Hamas “should reach an agreement that excludes the return to violence in which mostly innocent civilians suffer”.
However, the Russian Foreign Ministry did not mention if Lavrov had brought up the Israeli attacks on UN-run schools and refugee camps in Gaza. Russia had supported the Palestinian cause back in the Soviet era, but has since been close to Israel. However, its influence in the regions has decreased substantially and it no longer plays a key mediating role.