NYT editorial: War Crimes and the Gaza War
Source: The New York Times
The United Nations report on last year’s Gaza war is another marker of the deadly, endless struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. It found “serious violations of international humanitarian law” that “may amount to war crimes” by both Israel and the Palestinian militants during a 50-day war that killed 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians, and destroyed 18,000 homes in the Gaza Strip.
Both sides were faulted, but much of the criticism was placed on Israel. The report, by a commission of the United Nations Human Rights Council, concluded that “impunity prevails across the board” regarding the actions of Israeli forces in Gaza. Among other statistics, it cited 15 cases that killed 216 people, including 115 children and 50 women, in which Israelis used precision-guided weapons, yet there is little or no information to explain why residential buildings were considered legitimate military targets. The Palestinian militants, including Hamas, were condemned for the “inherently indiscriminate nature” of rockets and mortars fired at Israeli civilians. The report said there were more than 6,000 Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and 4,881 rockets and 1,753 mortars shot by Palestinians toward Israel between July 7 and Aug. 26.
The war was the latest in a destructive cycle that will undoubtedly be repeated if leaders on both sides do not hold violators of international law accountable for their conduct, as the report recommended, and, ultimately, find a way to live in peace.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel dismissed the report as “biased” and insisted “Israel does not commit war crimes.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/opinion/war-crimes-and-the-gaza-war.html