Palestinians ‘committed war crimes in Gaza conflict’, according to report

The report by Human Rights Watch said Palestinian militants fired more than 4,360 unguided rockets and mortars towards Israeli towns

Rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Gaza City in May (AP)

Palestinian militants in Gaza committed war crimes during a recent 11-day conflict with Israel by indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets at civilian areas, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

In total, the New York-based rights groups said Palestinian militants in Gaza fired more than 4,360 unguided rockets and mortars towards Israeli towns.

HRW concluded that the unprecedented barrage of rocket fire not only killed 13 people in Israel, including two children and a soldier, but a misfired rocket also killed seven Palestinians when it fell short in the Gaza Strip.

In Gaza, Hamas issued an angry reaction to the HRW report, calling it “an injustice to our people”.

Last month HRW accused Israel of also violating the laws of war in three Israeli strikes on Gaza in May that killed 62 Palestinian civilians – allegations Israel vehemently denied.

“Palestinian armed groups during the May fighting flagrantly violated the laws-of-war prohibition on indiscriminate attacks by launching thousands of unguided rockets towards Israeli cities,” HRW acting Middle East and north Africa director Eric Goldstein said.

It based its conclusions on an investigation into Hamas rocket attacks that killed 12 civilians in Israel.

The war erupted on May 10 after Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, fired a barrage of rockets towards Jerusalem in support of Palestinian protests against Israel’s heavy-handed policing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is sacred to both Jewish people and Muslims.

It had followed weeks of violence partially ignited by the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers in a nearby neighbourhood in Jerusalem, an action the UN said could constitute a war crime.

Around 260 people, including at least 67 children, were killed in the intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza – which saw Israeli warplanes strike more than 1,000 targets. Israel and Hamas differ on how many of the 260 were civilians.

HRW said that Palestinian rocket attacks resulted in the death of 10 civilians in Israel, that mortar fire killed 2 more, and that “several hundred” people were injured. Nine of the civilians were Israelis, including 2 children and 2 Palestinian citizens of Israel, and 3 were foreign nationals.

The rights group also determined that a misfired Palestinian rocket killed seven people in Jabalya in the Gaza Strip on May 10, adding that they based this on witness interviews, site visits, an inspection of rocket remnants, and a review of video footage.

Israel has claimed that around 20 per cent of the rockets Palestinian militants launched fell inside the Gaza Strip, and said that most of the remaining rockets were intercepted by the military’s iron dome aerial defence system, or fell in open areas.

"The rockets and mortars that Palestinian armed groups fired lack guidance systems and are prone to misfire, making them extremely inaccurate and thus inherently indiscriminate when directed toward areas with civilians," the report said. “Launching such rockets to attack civilian areas is a war crime.”

Hamas issued a strong response to the claims: “The only beneficiary of such a report is the Israeli occupation, because it equated the victim with the real criminal, while our Palestinian people are exercising their legitimate right to resist the occupation.”

The International Criminal Court is investigating possible war crimes by Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

In a separate development, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it had uncovered militant tunnels near one of its facilities and that Hamas had taken over one of its schools, undermining the agency’s neutrality.

It said it condemned the existence of these tunnels “in the strongest possible terms” and has sent protest letters to Hamas officials.

“The agency has also protested the takeover by the de facto authorities of one of these schools, which undermines the inviolability and neutrality of UNRWA premises,” it said.

HRW’s Mr Goldstein said: “Hamas authorities should stop trying to justify unlawful rocket attacks that indiscriminately kill and injure civilians by pointing to Israel’s violations.”