Amnesty critical of Israel's 'excessive use of force' against civilians during Gaza conflict

Amnesty International has reportedly said that Israeli air strikes carried out during the Gaza conflict repeatedly inflicted harm and death on civilians and could have been avoided.

A report prepared by the organization, "Families under the Rubble," examined eight cases of targeted Israeli attacks that killed 111 people, 104 of whom were civilians. The report said that all the cases displayed a failure to take necessary precautions to avoid harm to civilians and their property as stipulated by the international humanitarian law, reported The Independent.

The body also observed that the targeted attacks lacked military objective and that the damage caused by them to life and property were out of all proportion to any military advantage from the attack.

According to the United Nations estimates, about 2,192 Palestinians were killed in the conflict, including 1,523 civilians. Almost 18,000 homes were destroyed.

Israel, which lost 64 soldiers and six civilians, has repeatedly claimed that it tried its best to minimize civilian casualties but added that Hamas used them as human shields.

Israel had the alternative of postponing the attack until the target was not inside a house full of civilians, using less destructive means and giving effective warning but none of these were followed, the report said.