Evidence of Israeli war crimes mounts as Gaza cease-fire continues
Chris Marsden ■ Around 2,000 Palestinians were killed in the recent fighting and 10,000 wounded, mostly civilians, compared with 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians. Palestinian deaths include 459 children—a figure higher than in the previous two Gaza conflicts combined. Among the crimes to be investigated is the Israeli military’s policy of bombing family homes, based upon claims of them being used by Hamas and others as “command and control centres” or for weapons storage, and the Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on August 1. ■ Britain’s Guardian yesterday featured the results of an investigation conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al Mezan, both based in Gaza, and the West Bank-based Al-Haq; the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem; and the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It shows that at least 59 Palestinian families suffered multiple casualties during four weeks of Israeli bombardment. The youngest person killed was 10-day old Hala Abu Madi. The oldest was Abdel al-Masri, aged 97.