'Rights groups says laws of war violated in Gaza
By BEN HUBBARD AND ALFRED DE MONTESQUIOU
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
In this Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 photo, Fatma Zidane El-Banneh, 8, right, and her mother Azza, are seen after returning from a hospital to the Beit Lahiya Elementary Co-educational school, where Azza claims Fatma was burned by white phosphorus, which could not be independently verified, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza strip. Human rights groups are seeking to build a case that Israel and Hamas violated the laws of war during the fighting last month in this tiny coastal territory - a charge both combatants reject. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Human rights groups are seeking to build a case that Israel and Hamas violated the laws of war during the fighting last month in this tiny coastal territory - a charge both combatants reject.
On Tuesday, the International Criminal Court said the Palestinian Authority had recognized the court's jurisdiction in a move aimed at allowing a war crimes investigation.
Given the clarity of Hamas' violations, such as firing rockets at Israeli cities, organizations are focusing more on Israeli actions, the facts of which they say are harder to establish.
"The Israeli authorities deny everything, so one has to prove what happened in a way that you don't need to do with the Palestinian rockets," said Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International.
Among the questions being raised are whether Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians.
In one case, Israeli artillery fire hit near a U.N. school where hundreds of Gazans had sought refuge, killing 42 people. Israeli said its troops were responding to fire from militants near the school.
In another instance, Gazans allege Israeli soldiers ordered 110 civilians into a warehouse, then shelled it the next day, killing 30. Israel denies the army targeted the warehouse, saying the building was hit during intense combat with militants in that area.
"The suspected war crimes make for a very long list," said Jessica Montell, head of the Israeli group B'Tselem.
Rights activists say Gaza's Hamas rulers and other Palestinian groups committed war crimes by targeting Israeli civilians with rockets. They also say Hamas' use of human shields, as alleged by Israel, would constitute war crimes.'
In this Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 photo, Fatma Zidane El-Banneh, 8, right, and her mother Azza, are seen after returning from a hospital to the Beit Lahiya Elementary Co-educational school, where Azza claims Fatma was burned by white phosphorus, which could not be independently verified, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza strip. Human rights groups are seeking to build a case that Israel and Hamas violated the laws of war during the fighting last month in this tiny coastal territory - a charge both combatants reject. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Human rights groups are seeking to build a case that Israel and Hamas violated the laws of war during the fighting last month in this tiny coastal territory - a charge both combatants reject.
On Tuesday, the International Criminal Court said the Palestinian Authority had recognized the court's jurisdiction in a move aimed at allowing a war crimes investigation.
Given the clarity of Hamas' violations, such as firing rockets at Israeli cities, organizations are focusing more on Israeli actions, the facts of which they say are harder to establish.
"The Israeli authorities deny everything, so one has to prove what happened in a way that you don't need to do with the Palestinian rockets," said Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International.
Among the questions being raised are whether Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians.
In one case, Israeli artillery fire hit near a U.N. school where hundreds of Gazans had sought refuge, killing 42 people. Israeli said its troops were responding to fire from militants near the school.
In another instance, Gazans allege Israeli soldiers ordered 110 civilians into a warehouse, then shelled it the next day, killing 30. Israel denies the army targeted the warehouse, saying the building was hit during intense combat with militants in that area.
"The suspected war crimes make for a very long list," said Jessica Montell, head of the Israeli group B'Tselem.
Rights activists say Gaza's Hamas rulers and other Palestinian groups committed war crimes by targeting Israeli civilians with rockets. They also say Hamas' use of human shields, as alleged by Israel, would constitute war crimes.'
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten