Amnesty International: Evidence that Israel committed “war crimes” in Gaza
Amnesty International said it had monitored new evidence of “war crimes” committed by Israel in Gaza, where civilians in schools and hospitals were directly bombed without warning, but stressed that prosecuting Israel before international courts was difficult.
The Arab World News Agency yesterday quoted a member of the organisation, Sami Abdel Moneim, as saying that the organization committed to the defense of human rights had received “requests for help from victims of the unannounced bombing of shelters where they found, in violation of international standards”. laws and rules of war”.
The organization said in a report published yesterday that there is evidence that Israel committed “war crimes” in Gaza that resulted in the killing of 46 Palestinian civilians, underlining the need to investigate them.
It noted that it has documented, as part of its ongoing investigations into violations of the laws of war, two cases “that can be considered an example of Israeli practices in Gaza, in which Israeli raids killed 46 civilians, including 20 children.” . The oldest victim was an 80-year-old woman, while the youngest victim was no more than three months old. “These two attacks must be investigated as war crimes.”
He explained that the two attacks, which occurred on October 19 and 20, hit a church where hundreds of displaced civilians had taken refuge in Gaza City, and a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.
Abdel Moneim said: “Unfortunately, Israel is not a signatory to the convention governing the International Criminal Court, and therefore it is difficult to prosecute it.”
He considered that Israel’s history of wars “testifies that it has never respected the rules of engagement or the norms established by international law, such as respect for places of worship, schools, hospitals or places where civilians resort to preserve one’s life.”
But he stressed that “the issue will not become clear, nor will it be fully documented, to submit a dossier against the occupation forces to international justice until after the ceasefire.”
Abdel Moneim also revealed that the organization has evidence that “Israel is causing maximum destruction and injury to children and women, to instill terror in the inhabitants of Gaza, pushing them to move and leave the areas where they live, and with the force by moving them”.
He added that during recent raids by Israeli forces on hospitals, “there was no clash between the army and the Palestinians. On the contrary, most of those present were civilians, which refutes the Israeli army’s version that there is a war. On the contrary, what we have observed is that Israel is fighting civilians.”
According to Abdel Moneim, “The failure to implement the rules of engagement that regulate wars is the greatest attack used by Israel against the people of Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, no direct confrontation has been observed.”
Abdel Moneim underlined that “the role of human rights organizations ends with the presentation of reports and denunciation of violations that occur on the ground. There are bodies in charge of working and making decisions subsequently, such as the offices of the special rapporteurs of the Nations Unite.”
The Amnesty International report attributed to Erika Guevara Rosas, the organization’s director of global research, advocacy and policy, states that Israel’s “deadly and unlawful attacks are part of a documented pattern of disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians and demonstrate the devastating impact of the unprecedented Israeli military attack that has… “Leaves no place safe in Gaza, regardless of where civilians live or seek refuge.”
He urged the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to “take immediate concrete steps to accelerate investigations into war crimes and other crimes under international law, which will open in 2021.”