Report slams Palestinians, IDF
Human Rights Watch issues scathing report saying both Palestinian terror organizations and Israeli army 'show insufficient regard for civilian life' in rocket attacks on Israeli towns, Israeli artillery strikes near populated areas in northern Gaza
The report was published ahead of a High Court hearing held Monday on a petition filed by the Physicians for Human Rights organization, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and other organizations against a reduction in the “safety zone” between artillery targets and civilian areas in Gaza from 300 meters (984.3 feet) to 100 meters (328.1 feet).
The State's initial response to the petition was that the issue "cannot be tried", but recently it updated its response saying that since November 2006, no artillery strikes were carried out against Qassam launching sites.
The petitioners, represented by Attorney Michael Sfarad, asked the High Court to issue a ruling on the matter, which would have been considered a precedence.
The 146-page report titled 'Indiscriminate Fire: Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israel and Israeli Artillery Shelling in the Gaza Strip,” found that both Palestinian armed groups and the IDF have shown insufficient regard for civilian life.
"Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah’s al-Aqsa Brigades, and the Popular Resistance Committees, say the deliberate attacks on civilians with locally made and highly inaccurate rockets, known as Qassams, are reprisals for Israeli actions – but reprisals against civilians are always illegal," the report said.
"From September 2005 to May 2007, Palestinian armed groups fired almost 2,700 locally-made rockets toward Israel. They killed four and injured 75 Israeli civilians.
"During the same time period, from September 2005 through May 2007, the IDF fired more than 14,600 155mm artillery shells into Gaza. Shells fired close to populated areas killed 59 people and wounded 270, most if not all of them civilians."
'Palestinian groups violated laws of war'
The Human Rights Watch report put most of the blame on "Palestinian armed groups who have deliberately targeted and launched indiscriminate attacks against Israeli civilians in violation of the laws of war. In addition to inflicting scores of casualties, the attacks have caused property damage and created a pervasive climate of fear in affected Israeli communities."
The report also ruled that "Palestinian armed groups also at times endanger civilians by placing their highly portable rocket launchers near residential areas in Gaza. Such actions violate the duty to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian casualties."
Human Rights Watch, however, did not accept the IDF's stance on the artillery fire at rocket launching sites in populated areas. According to the report, "all fatalities and all but eight injuries from artillery fire between September 2005 and May 2007, which Israel claimed was in self-defense, occurred after the change in the IDF policy that reportedly reduced the “safety zone” from 300 to 100 meters in April 2006.
Aviram Zino contributed to the report
