Rights Group Report: Hamas Committed War Crimes
Rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel’s South amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said.
In a report issued Wednesday, the group said the indiscriminate nature of the rockets, the dense civilian population in the general area of where the rockets are aimed, and statements from the leadership of Gaza’s Hamas rulers and other groups make it clear that civilians are targeted.
Additionally, it said, effective Israeli defenses, including early warning systems, that have minimized the impact of the rockets do not mitigate the crimes.
“The repeated attacks have, over months and even years, taken a psychological toll on the population in areas close to Gaza,” the report said.
It said “the laws of war” prohibit attacks whose “primary purpose is to spread terror among the civilian population. Because of the rocket attacks, thousands of people have moved away from frequently targeted areas such as Sderot municipality.”
Israel’s much more forceful response was not pertinent to whether the attacks constituted war crimes, the report said.
“The purpose of the laws of war is not to create parity between parties to a conflict, or to assess their violations in light of their relevant capacities, but to minimize the harm to the civilian population,” Human Rights Watch said.
The group also has described Israeli actions during January’s Gaza Operation Cast Lead as war crimes. Israel launched the 3 1/2-week-old operation in a bid to halt rocket attacks from Gaza.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
