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l a n o i t a n r e t n I y t s e n m A © ISRA EL/ GAZA OPERATION ‘CAST LEAD’: 22 DAYS OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION Amnesty International is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion – funded mainly by our membership and public donations. Amnesty International Publications First published in 2009 by Amnesty International Publications International Secretariat Peter Benenson House 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW United Kingdom www.amnesty.org © Amnesty International Publications 2009 Index: MDE 15/015/2009 Original language: English Printed by Amnesty International, International Secretariat, United Kingdom All rights reserved. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for advocacy, campaigning and teaching purposes, but not for resale. The copyright holders request that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for re-use in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publishers, and a fee may be payable. Front cover photo: Destruction in Gaza City, Yarmouk Street, January 2009 Back cover photo : Palestinians run for safety at a UN school for refugees in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, on 17 January 2009, during an Israeli strike using white phosphorus shells. CONTENTS Introduction................................................................................................................. 1 1. Killings of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces ........................................................... 6 1.1 Precision Strikes ............................................................................................... 11 1.1.1 Air strikes against buildings ......................................................................... 11 1.1.2 Air strikes targeting people........................................................................... 15 1.1.3 Tank shelling – targeting “anything that moves”............................................. 19 1.2 Close-range Shootings ....................................................................................... 24 1.3 Indiscriminate attacks ....................................................................................... 27 1.3.1 White phosphorus ....................................................................................... 27 1.3.2 Mortars ...................................................................................................... 36 1.3.3 flechettes................................................................................................... 38 1.4 Attacking and obstructing medical workers .......................................................... 40 1.4.1 Medical workers in the line of fire................................................................. 40 1.4.2 Access to medical care hindered for the wounded .......................................... 43 2. No safe haven ........................................................................................................ 47 2.1 Palestinian civilians used as “human shields”...................................................... 48 2.2 Ineffective warnings .......................................................................................... 50 2.3 Humanitarian access denied............................................................................... 51 3. Wanton destruction in Gaza ..................................................................................... 54 3.1 Homes destroyed without justification ................................................................. 55 3.2 Public buildings destroyed without justification.................................................... 60 3.3 A fragile economy ruined.................................................................................... 61 3.4 An agricultural wasteland ...................................................................................63 3.5 Israel’s rationale for wholesale destruction ...........................................................64 4. Conduct of Palestinian armed groups ........................................................................66 4.1 rocket attacks....................................................................................................66 4.1.1 Israeli civilians in the line of fire ...................................................................67 4.1.2 Widening circle of fear .................................................................................69 4.1.3 Armed groups’ rationale for rocket attacks......................................................72 4.2 Conduct Endangering Palestinian civilians............................................................74 4.2.1 Rocket launching, fighting and weapons storage in residential areas .................74 4.2.2 Israeli allegations about use of “human shields”.............................................75 4.2.3 Responsibility for the safety of Gaza’s civilian population.................................77 5. International law and the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel .....................................79 5.1 International humanitarian law............................................................................79 5.1.1 International or non-international armed conflict.............................................80 5.1.2 Law of occupation .......................................................................................80 5.1.3 Rules governing the conduct of hostilities ......................................................83 5.2 International human rights law............................................................................87 5.2.1 Right to housing and forced evictions ............................................................88 5.3 International Criminal Law..................................................................................88 5.3.1 War crimes .................................................................................................88 5.3.2 Crimes against humanity ..............................................................................88 5.3.3 Responsibility of superiors and commanders ..................................................89 5.3.4 Superior orders............................................................................................89 5.4 Accountability ...................................................................................................89 5.4.1 Justice....................................................................................................... 90 5.4.2 States and reparations................................................................................. 91 5.4.3 Armed groups and reparations ...................................................................... 92 6. limited inquiries to date .......................................................................................... 93 6.1 Israeli army probes............................................................................................ 93 6.2 International inquiries ....................................................................................... 93 Recommendations...................................................................................................... 95 APPENDIX 1: FURTHER CASES OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES................................................. 98 APPENDIX 2: FURTHER CASES OF ISRAELI CIVILIAN CASUALTIES..................................................... 104 ENDNOTES .................................................................................................................. 107 http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/freeproducts/Gaza/Crisis2008/UNOSAT_GazaStrip_Damage_Review_19Feb09_v3_Lowres.pdf © UNITAR/UNOSAT Israel/Gaza: Operation ‘Cast Lead’: 22 days of death and destruction 1 INTRODUCTION “Until now we don’t understand why. We want peace; and we want an investigation; we want to know why me and my sisters have been orphaned. Why did they kill our parents, our family?” Fathiya Mousa, whose parents and siblings were killed in an Israeli air strike while sitting in their yard (see Chapter 1.1.2). At 11.30am on 27 December 2008, without warning, Israeli forces began a devastating bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip codenamed Operation “Cast Lead”. Its stated aim was to end rocket attacks into Israel by armed groups affiliated with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. By 18 January 2009, when unilateral ceasefires were announced by both Israel and Hamas, some 1,400 Palestinians had been killed, including some 300 children and hundreds of other unarmed civilians, and large areas of Gaza had been razed to the ground, leaving many thousands homeless and the already dire economy in ruins. Much of the destruction was wanton and resulted from direct attacks on civilian objects as well as indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilian objects. Such attacks violated fundamental provisions of international humanitarian law, notably the prohibition on direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects (the principle of distinction), the prohibition on indiscriminate or disproportionate