Amnesty International Accuses Hamas and Palestinian Militants of War Crimes

Amnesty International has accused the military wing of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip of committing war crimes during the 50-day war with Israel in 2014. This human rights NGO had previously accused Israel of committing war crimes in the same conflict. In a report published on Thursday, April 6, Amnesty International emphasized that armed Palestinian groups in Gaza 'killed both Israeli and Palestinian civilians by indiscriminately and recklessly firing rockets.' According to Amnesty International, Palestinian militants violated international laws by launching rockets and unguided mortar shells that could not target specific areas. The NGO added that as a result of these attacks within the Gaza Strip, six Israeli civilians and 13 Palestinians were killed in a camp belonging to Palestinian refugees. Palestinian militants had previously claimed that Israel was responsible for this attack, but Amnesty International's report states that an independent explosives expert reviewed the available evidence and concluded that a Palestinian rocket was responsible for the incident. Amnesty International also emphasized that Palestinian militants violated other international laws, including hiding their weapons and munitions in residential buildings and schools belonging to the United Nations and conducting their attacks from areas where hundreds of civilians had taken refuge. Israel has always claimed that this issue made the increase in civilian casualties in battles with Palestinian militants inevitable, and now Amnesty International's report supports this Israeli claim. The report also stressed that although 'the devastating impact of Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians is undeniable, violations [of international regulations] in a conflict by one party never justifies violations of those regulations by the other party.' Israel and Palestinian militant groups based in the Gaza Strip engaged in conflict for 50 days in the summer of 2014. During this conflict, more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, and 72 Israelis, only six of whom were civilians, were killed.