JERUSALEM, Israel – Human rights activists are accusing terror groups in the Gaza Strip of committing war crimes against both Israelis and Palestinians during the 11-day war in May.
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released on Thursday says armed Palestinian groups in Gaza violated international law by indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. It also found that these groups are responsible for the deaths of seven Palestinians who were killed by rockets that were intended for Israel, but fell short and landed in Gaza.
“Palestinian armed groups during the May fighting flagrantly violated the laws-of-war prohibition on indiscriminate attacks by launching thousands of unguided rockets towards Israeli cities,” said Eric Goldstein, acting Middle East and North Africa director at HRW.
The report is based on findings from an investigation into Hamas rocket attacks that killed 12 Israelis, including two children, during the war in May. Hamas launched more than 4,300 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel, including attacks on major population centers around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel has said it hit more than 1,000 targets in the Gaza Strip during the fighting.
A spokesperson for Hamas rejected the report’s conclusions, saying it is “far from the truth and lacks objectivity.”
The terror group insisted that the rocket attacks on Israeli civilians were “a legitimate resistance guaranteed to us by all international laws.”
HRW, based in New York, has frequently come under fire from Israel and pro-Israel activists who accuse it of condemning Israel for alleged war crimes, but turning a blind eye to Palestinian abuses in the conflict. But this time, the organization agrees with Israel and international legal experts that indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza-based terror groups is a violation of international law.
Last month, the group issued a report accusing Israel of carrying out rocket attacks during the May conflict that “apparently amount to war crimes” after investigating three Israeli airstrikes that it said killed 62 Palestinian civilians. HRW claimed there were no clear military targets in the airstrikes and said Israel did not take sufficient precautions to avoid civilian casualties.
The Israeli military contested this conclusion, saying its airstrikes were only aimed at military targets, it took measures to safeguard Palestinian civilians, and blamed Hamas for launching attacks from residential areas.
“While the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip deliberately embed their military assets in densely populated civilian areas, the IDF takes every feasible measure to minimize, as much as possible, the harm to civilians and civilian property,” the IDF said.
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Shortly after the May war, the United Nations said it found terror tunnels near one of its facilities in the Gaza Strip and that Hamas had taken over one of its schools.
Still, Israel’s military has opened an investigation into an artillery barrage that killed six people, including a Palestinian infant, during its response to Hamas’ rocket attacks. While Israel often warns Gaza residents where and when it is going to strike, witnesses say the artillery attack that killed six came with no warning.
Israel’s military said in a statement that an “operational inquiry” was immediately conducted. Israel did not provide details, but said the investigation found no signs of criminal negligence.
However, it said “relevant takeaways from the review were used to inform several changes” and that the issue was now in the hands of a high-level investigative body known as the “General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism.”
“When an initial allegation or suspicion of misconduct does not by itself reach the level of criminal suspicion, the Military Advocate General’s Corps (MAG) requires additional factual information in order to make a decision whether to open a criminal investigation,” it said.
In all, some 254 people were killed in Gaza, including at least 67 children and 39 women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Hamas has acknowledged the deaths of 80 terrorists, but Israel claims that number is much higher.
HWR has long accused Hamas and Israel of being incapable of conducting fair war crime investigations into their own people and is urging the international community to intervene.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is now investigating war crimes by Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and claims it is capable of investigating any possible wrongdoing committed by its soldiers. It says the ICC probe is unfair and politically motivated, an accusation the court rejects.
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