Attacks on Palestinian civilian homes without warning by Israeli forces earlier this year amount to war crimes said Amnesty International in a new report released this week.
At least 104 civilians, including 62 children were killed in Israeli attacks on 8 Palestinian homes in July and August 2014 said the non-governmental organisation. The report, entitled “Families under the Rubble: Israeli attacks on inhabited homes”, details the attacks which Amnesty said sometimes killed entire families.
Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International Philip Luther said,
One of the deadliest attacks saw 36 members of 4 families, including 18 children, killed in an Israeli air strike.
“It is tragic to think that these civilian deaths could have been prevented. The onus is on Israeli officials to explain why they chose to deliberately flatten entire homes full of civilians, when they had a clear legal obligation to minimize harm to civilians and the means of doing so,” said Philip Luther.
At least 104 civilians, including 62 children were killed in Israeli attacks on 8 Palestinian homes in July and August 2014 said the non-governmental organisation. The report, entitled “Families under the Rubble: Israeli attacks on inhabited homes”, details the attacks which Amnesty said sometimes killed entire families.
Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International Philip Luther said,
“The report exposes a pattern of attacks on civilian homes by Israeli forces which have shown a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who were given no warning and had no chance to flee.”
“Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused.”Luther went on to add,
“Even if a fighter had been present in one of these residential homes, it would not absolve Israel of its obligation to take every feasible precaution to protect the lives of civilians caught up in the fighting. The repeated, disproportionate attacks on homes indicate that Israel’s current military tactics are deeply flawed and fundamentally at odds with the principles of international humanitarian law.”
One of the deadliest attacks saw 36 members of 4 families, including 18 children, killed in an Israeli air strike.
“It is tragic to think that these civilian deaths could have been prevented. The onus is on Israeli officials to explain why they chose to deliberately flatten entire homes full of civilians, when they had a clear legal obligation to minimize harm to civilians and the means of doing so,” said Philip Luther.