Israeli rights group questions the legality of targeting Palestinian homes in Gaza war

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has released a report which questions the legality of Israel’s policy of targeting dozens of Palestinian homes during last summer’s war in Gaza – a strategy that led to hundreds of civilian deaths.

B’Tselem found that the attacks on residential buildings were the “result of a policy formulated by government officials and the senior military command.”

The group investigated 70 such incidents which led to the deaths of 606 Palestinians. More than 70% of those killed were either under 18, over 60 or women.

The examination of these cases indicated: “At least in some cases, the military’s actions ran contrary to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) provisions and, in other cases, there is grave concern that they did so.”

While the report stated Hamas and other organisations operating in the Gaza Strip had not abided by IHL, it also said: “Israel is still bound to uphold IHL (as it insistently claims it had done) because violations of IHL by one party do not grant the other party permission to breach them as well.”

Under IHL there is a two-fold test for targeting civilian sites. The first is whether the building is being used for a specific military purpose, such as launching attacks. The second consideration is whether the attack confers “a clear military advantage” that outweighs any civilian deaths.

During the 51-day Israeli war on Gaza over the summer, 2,260 Palestinians were killed and over 11,000 others wounded. More than 18,000 homes were destroyed, leaving 100,000 Palestinians homeless.