Palestinian human rights officials suggested the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank may file formal war crimes charges against Israel in international court for activity in the Hamas-held Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces launched their twelfth day of assaults on the tiny enclave on the border with Egypt. Hamas, the militant leadership of the Gaza Strip, violated a six-month cease-fire with rocket barrages on the Israeli border town of Ashkelon.
Raji Sourani with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the Palestinian Authority will conduct legal proceedings against top Israeli officials for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip offensive, the Inter Press Service said Wednesday.
“The repeated bombing of clearly marked civilian buildings, where civilians were sheltering, crosses several red lines in regard to international law,” Sourani said.
The United Nations called for investigations into the shelling of a Gazan school in the Jabaliya refugee camp Tuesday, which killed some 40 Palestinians. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent, meanwhile, condemned Israeli strikes on aid vehicles, which the ICRC said were clearly marked.
Israeli officials denied any deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians, claiming they were collateral damage due to the Hamas tactic of operating in densely populated areas. Both sides agreed to daily 3-hour cease fires to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
At least 658 Palestinians were killed in the offensive since Dec. 27. Ten Israelis, seven of them soldiers, died in the conflicts. Four of those seven were from friendly fire, however.
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Al Qaeda has nothing on Israel. Israel is all about terrorism. It only wants to teach lessons. Hurt one of ours, and we’ll kill a thousand of yours. This from the people that gave us God. He must be so proud.
The savagery of what Israel is doing is beyond belief and that it and its leaders should be condemned is beyond question. However, the notion of the Palestinian Authority filing the charge lacks credibility. Efforts by the PA were notably lacking in the first days of the slaughter — one suspects because it hoped to benefit from a defeat of Hamas. If it or some other group does file charges, where would the list of accused stop? With the US that has condoned Israel's murders in Gaza? With the PA for its initial silence? With Egypt for keeping its border closed? With the rest of the world that has stood by doing nothing more than wringing its hands?
At least 850 Palestinians were killed in the offensive since Dec. 27, among them more than 250 children.It is a war against unarmed people,against children and women.It is clear and obviously that Israel is committing a War Crime.
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