Israeli rights group accuses Netanyahu of ‘deliberate home strikes’ in Gaza War

An Israeli rights group Wednesday criticised the government for what it called a deliberate policy of launching air strikes on homes that killed hundreds of civilians during last year’s Gaza war. In a report examining 70 raids on residential buildings in the besieged Palestinian territory, B’Tselem said Israeli officials were responsible for civilian casualties during the 50-day conflict that killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians. In the cases B’Tselem investigated, 606 people were killed, 70% of whom were under 18 or over 60. The UN says the conflict’s Palestinian death toll was almost 70% civilian.

A hallmark of the fighting in Gaza this summer was the numerous strikes on residential buildings, destroying them while their occupants were still inside. This aspect of the fighting was particularly appalling [and was] the result of a policy formulated by government officials and the senior military command.

Excerpt from B’Tselem’s 49-page report

B’Tselem has asked for an explanation of possible Israeli violations of international law – specifically in deciding whether a home constituted a legitimate military target, and whether its destruction gave a distinct military advantage outweighing collateral damage. While it is true Hamas is operating outside humanitarian law in the Gaza strip, the report said, Netanyahu’s insistence that Hamas was to blame for all civilian deaths was an attempt to place “no restrictions whatsoever on Israeli action”.

You cannot say that the army didn’t know or couldn’t know how many civilians would get killed during those attacks. You can’t maybe (know) on the first day or the second day. But on the 10th day or the 20th day, when you see how many civilians are getting killed… these attacks shouldn’t have happened.

Yael Stein, B’Tselem’s head of research

Middle East Gaza