Israel, Hamas both 'guilty of war crimes':
Report
David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Published: Monday February 23, 2009
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_Hamas_guilty_of_war_crimes_0223.html
War is a universal crime.
But in the case of recent fighting between Israel and Hamas, both
have committed the technical definition of "war crimes," according
to a new Amnesty International report.
The human rights organization said that Israel's use of white
phosphorus -- a substance which is approved for what the BBC called
"open battlefields," but which causes severe burns and widespread
death when used in civilian centers -- was the clearest example of
Israeli war crimes.
But the report also criticized Palestinian militants for firing
"indiscriminate rockets into residential areas of southern Israel,
killing three civilians."
"Of the 1,300 Gazans that died in the conflict, around 300 of them
[were] children," said the BBC.
"Direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, disproportionate
attacks and indiscriminate attacks are war crimes," the report
reads.
Other claims pointed toward the Israelis includes what
investigators say is direct evidence of attacks on Palestinian
civilians and the civilian center deployment of guided missiles
filled with metal darts.
"We found remains of artillery, air-delivered, of different kinds,"
said Donatella Rovera, a spokeswoman with Amnesty International.
"Parts of which had serial numbers. Through that we were able to
establish where they were from."
The report includes a lengthy list of guided bombs, aircraft and
other advanced military technology sold to Israel by the United
States.
"This report was obviously done in cooperation with the Hamas
regime," retorted a spokesman for the Israeli government.
"Hamas says its weapons can't be compared to those of Israel, but
it also feels the report is unbalanced," said the BBC.
Amnesty has called on the UN Security Council to impose an
immediate arms embargo on Israel, Hamas and other armed Palestinian
groups.
