{"id":5515,"date":"2015-07-30T17:02:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T16:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=5515"},"modified":"2015-07-30T17:02:45","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T16:02:45","slug":"amnesty-international-finds-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/amnesty-international-finds-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty International finds Israeli war crimes in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Amnesty\"<\/a>An analysis of an Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip following the capture of one of its soldiers during last year\u2019s war in the Palestinian territory shows \u201cstrong evidence\u201d of war crimes, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
\nThe London-based rights group called for those responsible for the alleged offenses to be prosecuted as it published a detailed analysis of the Israeli military operation using eyewitness accounts, satellite imagery, photos and videos.
\n\u201cThere is strong evidence that Israeli forces committed war crimes in their relentless and massive bombardment of residential areas of Rafah in order to foil the capture of Lt. Hadar Goldin, displaying a shocking disregard for civilian lives,\u201d Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
\n\u201cThey carried out a series of disproportionate or otherwise indiscriminate attacks, which they have completely failed to investigate independently.\u201d
\nIsrael strongly denied the accusations, calling Amnesty\u2019s report \u201cfundamentally flawed in its methodologies, in its facts, in its legal analysis and in its conclusions.\u201d
\n\u201cWhen one reads the report, the impression is given that the (Israeli military) was fighting against itself \u2014 as there is almost no mention of the military actions of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations,\u201d the foreign ministry said in a statement.
\nThe incidents addressed in the report centered on August 1, 2014, which has become known as \u201cBlack Friday,\u201d when Goldin was captured shortly after a cease-fire was announced. He was later declared dead.
\nIn response, the military was said to have implemented the so-called Hannibal Directive \u2014 a controversial procedure which allows for an intensive military response to secure the rescue of a captured soldier.
\nIsrael bombed the city of Rafah and the surrounding area in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt. According to Amnesty, at least 135 civilians were killed in the air and ground assault.
\nCivilians had begun to return home due to the cease-fire announcement, Amnesty said.
\n\u201cMassive and prolonged bombardment began without warning while masses of people were on the streets, and many of them, especially those in vehicles, became targets,\u201d Amnesty said.
\n\u201cEyewitness accounts described horrifying scenes of chaos and panic as an inferno of fire from F-16 jets, drones, helicopters and artillery rained down on the streets, striking civilians on foot or in cars, as well as ambulances and other vehicles evacuating the wounded.\u201d
\nDevastation and human suffering<\/strong>
\nA UN report in June said both Israel and Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes during the Gaza war, while decrying \u201cunprecedented\u201d devastation and human suffering.
\nThe UN report condemned the \u201cindiscriminate\u201d firing of thousands of rockets and mortars at Israel by Palestinian militants as well as the \u201chuge firepower\u201d Israel used in Gaza.
\nThe Palestinian enclave of 1.8 million people, under an Israeli blockade, has seen three wars in six years. Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
\nAmnesty partnered with researchers from Forensic Architecture, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, for its report.
\nIsrael accused Amnesty of \u201ca false narrative \u2014 claiming that four days of military operations by the IDF were in direct response to the killing and kidnapping of one IDF soldier,\u201d the foreign ministry said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
\n\u201cIt seems that Amnesty forgot that there was an ongoing conflict \u2014 during which the IDF was operating to stop rocket fire and neutralize cross-border assault tunnels, and Palestinian terrorist organizations were actively engaging in intensive conflict against the IDF from within the civilian environment.\u201d
\nDeborah Hyams from Amnesty told journalists however said the Hannibal Directive \u201cis a policy and those who ordered it should be prosecuted.\u201d
\nLast summer\u2019s 50-day war took a heavy toll on Gaza, killing 2,251 Palestinians, including more than 500 children. Seventy-three people were killed on the Israeli side, including 67 soldiers.<\/p>\n

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