Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Nine Israeli Human Rights Organizations Call for War Crimes Proceedings Against Israeli Officials Over Gaza

International Herald Tribune, January 14, 2009 - Nine Israeli human rights groups called on Wednesday for an investigation into whether Israeli officials had committed war crimes in Gaza since tens of thousands of civilians there have nowhere to flee, the health system has collapsed, many are without electricity and running water, and some are beyond the reach of rescue teams.

"This kind of fighting constitutes a blatant violation of the laws of warfare and raises the suspicion, which we ask be investigated, of the commission of war crimes," the groups said in their first news conference on the 19-day-old war....

The Israeli human rights groups that called for an investigation said that while they believed it was legitimate for Israel to bomb military installations, it was a violation of international law for it to hit civilian sites like government buildings that contained no weapons or missiles.

The group included the Israel section of Amnesty International, B'Tselem, Adalah, Gisha, and Physicians for Human Rights — Israel.....

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