Amnesty accuses Israel of killing hundreds of unarmed Palestinians

Middle East News.Net
Thursday 2nd July, 2009 (ANI)

Gaza, July 2 : A detailed report released by Amnesty International has accused Israel of being responsible for killing about 300 children and hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians in the recent three-week conflict along the Gaza strip.

The 117-page report added that such attacks violated fundamental provisions of international humanitarian law and questioned use of high-precision weapons to kill children and civilians, the Sky News reports.

It also accused Israeli forces of using Palestinians as human shields, and rebuffing medical or humanitarian aid to civilians.

"The pattern of attacks and the high number of civilian casualties showed elements of reckless conduct, disregard for civilian lives and property and a consistent failure to distinguish between military targets and civilians and civilian objects," the report read.

The group further called on Israel to guarantee that they would not use artillery, white phosphorus and other imprecise weapons in densely populated areas, and urged Gaza's militant Hamas rulers to stop attack against Israeli civilians.

According to Gaza health officials and human rights groups, more than 1,400 Palestinians, including about 900 civilians, were killed during the conflict.

Israel claimed the death toll to be around 1,100, while asserting that majority of the dead were militants.

Amnesty International's report was based on physical evidence and testimony gathered from dozens of attack sites in Gaza and southern Israel during and after the war.

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