Israel concluded Gaza offensive with collective punishment: Amnesty

Jerusalem, Dec 9 (IANS/EFE) Amnesty International (AI) Tuesday criticised the Israeli army for carrying out collective punishment on Palestinian civilians at the end of its incursion into the Gaza Strip by targeting buildings last summer.

An AI report entitled "Nothing is Immune: Israel's Destruction of Landmark Buildings" provides evidence that attacks on four multi-storeyed buildings during the last four days of the conflict were in contravention of international humanitarian law.

The report calls for the attacks to be independently and impartially investigated.

"All the evidence we have shows this large-scale destruction was carried out deliberately and with no military justification," said Philip Luther, director of the AI's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"The Israeli army launched four attacks that completely destroyed significant buildings in Gaza. Three blocks of residential towers in the city of Gaza and a modern shopping centre in Rafah, and nearby buildings were also damaged," the report says.

"Both the facts on the ground and statements made by Israeli military spokespersons at the time indicate that the attacks were a collective punishment against the people of Gaza and were designed to destroy their already precarious livelihoods," the report says.

While the Israeli military warned the residents of the buildings to leave before they were targeted, scores of people from nearby buildings were injured and hundreds of people lost their homes, businesses and belongings, according to AI.

The six-week offensive against Gaza which ended in late August, killed some 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinians and international agencies.

In addition, more than 50,000 homes were completely destroyed or severely damaged.

According to UN estimates, 2,256 people died in Gaza, of whom 1,568 were believed to be civilians, including 538 children and 306 women.

More than 11,000 Palestinians were injured, while 18,000 homes were either destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, leaving 108,000 people homeless.

Another 37,650 homes were damaged.

"Even if the Israeli authorities had good reason to believe that a part of a building was being used for military purposes, they had an obligation to choose means and methods of attack that would minimise harm to civilians and their property," Luther said.

"The Israeli army had previously conducted airstrikes on specific apartments in high-rise buildings without their complete destruction," he added.

During the conflict, the armed wings of Hamas and other Palestinian groups fired thousands of rockets and mortars indiscriminately at Israeli civilian targets.

Six civilians, including a child, were killed by the Palestinians and 66 Israeli soldiers died.

--IANS/EFE

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