2 yıl önce

Amnesty urges ICC investigation into possible Gaza war crimes

The probe is supported by the Palestinian Authority, but Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court and disputes its jurisdiction.

Reuters Archive

According to Geneva-based human rights nonprofit Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, 91 percent of children in Gaza suffer from some form of conflict-related trauma.

Amnesty International has called for an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe into possible war crimes committed during an Israeli assault on Gaza in August.

Thirty-one civilians were among the 49 Palestinians killed in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza during the three-day conflict, the global rights group said in a new report on Tuesday.

The London-based organisation pressed the ICC to "urgently investigate any apparent war crimes committed during the August 2022 Israeli offensive" in the Palestinian enclave.

"Amnesty International has collected and analysed new evidence of unlawful attacks, including possible war crimes, committed by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups," it said.

Fighting began on August 5 when Israel targeted the Islamic Jihad group in what it said were pre-emptive strikes to avert attacks.

The Palestinian organisation responded with barrages of rocket fire that did not result in any Israeli casualties.

Amnesty's research found that an attack in which five children were killed at a cemetery "was likely to have been carried out by an Israeli guided missile fired by a drone".

A third incident Amnesty said may amount to a war crime was Israeli tank fire on a house in the southern Khan Yunis area, which killed one civilian.

The report also detailed a strike that hit the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing seven civilians.

The bombing was "likely to have been caused by a rocket launched by Palestinian armed groups that misfired", Amnesty said.

Probe supported by Palestinians

The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, expected to focus in part on possible war crimes committed during the 2014 conflict in Gaza.

The probe is supported by the Palestinian Authority, but Israel is not an ICC member and disputes its jurisdiction.

The fighting in August, which Hamas said it did not participate in, was preceded by four wars between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza since 2008.

The Palestinian enclave has been under a crippling Israeli-led blockade since 2007, imposed after Hamas took control of the territory almost a year and a half from winning majority in parliamentary elections.

SOURCE: AFP