The High Court of Justice will begin deliberations Sunday on whether to open a criminal investigation into allegations that the Israel Defense Forces committed war crimes during two operations in the Gaza Strip in 2004.
The court will hold the hearing following a petition by Adalah, the legal center for Arab minority rights in Israel. The organization petitioned the court to order a criminal investigation concerning the death of Palestinian citizens during Operation Rainbow in May 2004 and Operation Days of Penitence the following October.
Dozens of Palestinians - 44 of them children - were killed in the two operations, and 258 houses were destroyed. According to the petition, the houses were home to 522 families.
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Human Rights Watch (HRW) also contributed to the petition. The organization refuted the claims of the IDF that Operation Rainbow was aimed at halting smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. HRW suggested that smuggling can be prevented in other ways than massive urban destruction. HRW claims the operation was motivated by revenge for the killing of soldiers in the area the previous week.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/848516.html
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