Gaza offensive

Amnesty International (AI) has accused Israel of conducting direct attacks on civilians and using Palestinians as human shields, forcing families, including children, to remain in houses occupied by Israeli troops.

In the first comprehensive study into the January-December conflict, Amnesty said the scale of Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip was unprecedented.

"Much of the destruction was wanton and deliberate," Amnesty said. "(It) was carried out in a manner and circumstances which indicated that it could not be justified on grounds of military necessity."

The human rights group also said rocket attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas amounted to war crimes, but Amnesty said Hamas had not used civilians as human shields – an accusation made by Israel.

Arms embargo

London-based Amnesty has called for an international arms embargo on both Israel and Hamas. It said Hamas fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, and called these attacks "unlawful" and "unacceptable."

AI also said Israel used battlefield weapons against the civilian population, including artillery shells carrying white phosphorus - a substance which, under international law, is not to be used in civilian areas.

More than 1,400 Palestinians died during the 22-day conflict, including 300 children and hundreds of civilians.

Donatella Rovera, the head of an Amnesty research mission to Gaza, said many questions remained about Israel's attacks.

"The deaths of so many children and other civilians cannot be dismissed as 'collateral damage', as argued by Israel," Rovera said.

Israeli response

Israel has rejected the report, calling it "unbalanced" and accusing Amnesty of succumbing to the "manipulations" of Hamas.

An Israeli military statement said it tried to minimise the harm to civilians. Israel has also repeated its accusation that Hamas used human shields.

Israel accused Amnesty of ignoring "violations of international law" by Hamas.

There was no immediate comment on the report from Hamas.

UN investigation

The United Nations is gathering evidence for its own inquiry into the Gaza conflict, led by South African prosecutor Richard Goldstone, but Israel has refused to cooperate, claiming the investigators are biased against them.

Amnesty's Donatella Rovera accused Israel of trying to avoid accountability, and urged the international community to pressure Israel into cooperating with the inquiry.

Rovera said neither Israel nor Hamas had shown any inclination to change their practices and abide by international law.

"Those responsible for war crimes and other serious violations must not be allowed to escape accountability and justice," she said.

Author: ca/dpa/AFP/AP/Reuters
Editor: Michael Lawton