<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div class="article">
<h1 class="article-title">New Amnesty International Report: Israel
'deliberately and wantonly' targeted residential towers</h1>
<div class="article-subtitledetails">
<span class="article-details">
<span class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part1.05020703.02010804@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> Tuesday December 09, 2014 10:09</span><span
class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part2.04090102.03040001@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> by Celine Hagbard<br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.imemc.org/article/69949">http://www.imemc.org/article/69949</a></small></small></b></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="article-intro">A new report from the
international human rights group Amnesty International found
that Israeli forces deliberately targeted multi-story apartment
buildings in Gaza during the latter part of its invasion this
past summer, in actions that amount to war crimes.</blockquote>
<p class="article">“All the evidence we have shows this
large-scale destruction was carried out deliberately and with no
military justification,” said Philip Luther, Director of the
Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
<br>
<br>
“Both the facts on the ground and statements made by Israeli
military spokespeople at the time indicate that the attacks were
a collective punishment against the people of Gaza and were
designed to destroy their already precarious livelihoods.” <br>
<br>
The Israeli air strikes on residential apartment towers
increased in the last part of the invasion, during August, in
the last four days of the invasion.<br>
According to the Amnesty report, while the Israeli military
warned the residents of the buildings to leave before they
destroyed them, scores of people from nearby buildings were
injured and hundreds of people lost their homes, businesses and
belongings in the air strikes that leveled the skyscrapers. <br>
<br>
In all four cases, panicked residents hurried to evacuate the
buildings and in most cases, were unable to salvage their
belongings, including important documents, jewelry and savings.
<br>
<br>
The Municipal Commercial Centre in Rafah, which contained a
shopping mall, a garage, several offices and a medical clinic,
was reduced to a tangled skeleton of iron girders and concrete.
Businesses in this building provided the livelihoods for
hundreds of families, who are now struggling to make ends meet.
<br>
<br>
Other than the suggestion that one of the destroyed buildings
housed a Hamas command centre and of “facilities linked to
Palestinian militants” in another, the Israeli authorities have
provided no information as to why they levelled four entire
buildings. <br>
<br>
“Even if the Israeli authorities had good reason to believe that
a part of a building was being used for military purposes, they
had an obligation to choose means and methods of attack that
would minimize harm to civilians and their property,” says
Philip Luther. “The Israeli army have previously conducted air
strikes on specific apartments in high-rise buildings without
their complete destruction.” <br>
<br>
Amnesty International sent its findings about the air strikes to
the Israeli authorities and asked for explanations on why each
of the attacks was carried out; what or who was being targeted;
what precautions were taken to minimize the risk of harm to
civilians; and whether any investigation had taken place or was
ongoing. <br>
<br>
Amnesty International is calling for the Commission of Inquiry
set up the United Nations to be allowed to conduct its
investigation without hindrance, and for the Israeli authorities
to lift their block on Amnesty International and other human
rights organizations entering Gaza. <br>
<br>
“War crimes must be independently and impartially investigated
and those responsible should be brought to justice in fair
trials. Those whose homes and livelihoods have been unlawfully
destroyed deserve justice and full reparation,” said Philip
Luther. </p>
<div class="article-details">
<span class="article-details">
<span class="article-detail"><br>
</span><span class="article-detail"><a
href="mailto:news%20at%20imemc%20dot%20org"></a></span></span>
</div>
<div class="article-related-link-relatedlink">Related Link(s): <a
href="http://amnesty.org/en/news/israels-destruction-multistorey-buildings-extensive-wanton-and-unjustified-2014-12-09"
title="http://amnesty.org/en/news/israels-destruction-multistorey-buildings-extensive-wanton-and-unjustified-2014-12-09">http://amnesty.org/en/news/israels-destruction-multisto...12-09</a></div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>