In the Gaza conflict that started on Saturday, both sides have committed serious war crimes. If you look only at the latest confrontation, the responsibility for its initiation lies unequivocally with the Hamas organization that controls Gaza, says the executive director of the human rights organization Amnesty International Frank Johansson.
In the sixth day of the conflict, both sides have committed acts that Amnesty believes should be investigated by the International Criminal Court.
In the following, Frank Johansson lists the parties’ actions that violate international law:
Hamas’ crime: indiscriminate rocket fire
– This [konflikti] started with Hamas indiscriminately firing rockets at Israel, which is a war crime if done in such a way that it has no military target, but indiscriminately fires at residential areas.
Hamas’ crime: killing civilians
– When [Hamasin] armed men broke out of Gaza, they carried out deliberate killings of civilians, i.e. killing people in cold blood.
Hamas’s crime: taking civilians hostage
Hamas has kidnapped hundreds of people, which is completely illegal and a war crime. They should be released immediately.
Amnesty wants the Hamas leadership on trial
According to Johansson, Amnesty International fully condemns the actions of Hamas.
– These are extremely serious war crimes, and Amnesty will push for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. It is certainly not easy and will take years, says Johansson.
According to him, both the leadership of Hamas and the individual perpetrators of the acts should be brought to justice.
Israel is capable of collective punishment
Israel is militarily completely superior compared to Hamas. This is why it is able to target the entire besieged population of Gaza.
Israel’s crime: bombing civilian targets
According to Johansson, Israel is bombing Gaza, and the bombings are hitting civilian targets. Israel has also not given adequate warnings about future bombings. This is a war crime.
– Considering that the two million inhabitants of Gaza cannot get anywhere from there, the bombings can be considered a collective punishment, which is a war crime, says Johansson.
The attached slide shows the traces of the bombing in Gaza from the last few days.
Israel’s crime: Preventing the delivery of food, water and medicine
Israel is now extremely tightly encircling Gaza. The supply of water, food, medicine and energy to the area has been blocked.
– Blocking water, food and energy, which the residents of Gaza depend on, is a war crime. It is a collective punishment where existence is made almost impossible.
Gaza has a very young population. As many as 40 percent of Gaza’s residents are under 15 years of age.
In the picture below, you can see that children under the age of ten are the largest age group in Gaza.
This map shows where hospitals, water treatment plants and the only power plant in Gaza are located:
Amnesty is not on either side and does not talk about terrorism
Frank Johansson reminds that his organization has been condemning Israel’s policy of oppression against the Palestinians for years. According to Amnesty, Israel implements an apartheid policy towards the Palestinians.
Johansson does not believe that the violence in the Middle East will end until Israel changes its policy.
Despite this, he states that Hamas is the one who started and bears the responsibility for the now acutely aggravated conflict.
In any case, the essential thing is that not all Palestinians living in Gaza are responsible for this, and not all of them can be punished, says Johansson.
Johansson also reminds that Amnesty International never talks about terrorists or terrorist organizations. According to him, the terrorist label is unnecessary and politically charged. Amnesty fights against these crimes, which are so horrific that they don’t need extra stamps anymore, Johansson reasons.
Amnesty International has published position on the situation in Gaza.