LONDON
The Israeli embassy in London has criticized Amnesty International’s latest report which claimed this summer’s destruction in Gaza "was extensive and appeared to have been wanton and not justified by military necessity."
Amnesty says that Operation Protective Edge – the name given to Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip from 8 July until 26 August 2014 – totally destroyed multistory landmark buildings in the coastal territory with three strikes targeting residential tower blocks in Gaza City and one hitting a modern commercial center in Rafah.
"Civilian property in some surrounding buildings was also damaged," the Amnesty report says.
According to the Israeli embassy, Amnesty "chooses to focus on monetary losses to Palestinian civilians, rather than investigate the systematic and deliberate firing of rockets and mortars at Israel's civilian population by an internationally-recognized Jihadist terror group."
Claiming that the Amnesty report made "unfounded allegations concerning the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)," the embassy said in a statement:
"First, the IDF does not intentionally target civilians or civilian property; its activity is dictated by international law, is directed against military objectives, and abides by the principle of proportionality.
Second, Amnesty ignores that in some cases, releasing information that would disclose in detail the target of military strikes might jeopardize classified information and intelligence sources.
Third, and most blatantly, Amnesty ignores the clear evidence that Hamas systematically and deliberately used civilian infrastructure for military purposes. Amnesty's inability to determine the military use of these sites does not indicate a lack of such use."
The embassy said Amnesty's stated intention of publishing reports on Hamas human rights violations in Gaza is welcomed, but added:
"The absence of reports on Hamas, coupled with outrageous public statements by Amnesty officials recently, comparing Israel to the terror group ISIL, cast serious doubt as to Amnesty's capacity to play a constructive role in covering this issue."
In the report, however, Amnesty also included that Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and other Palestinian armed groups fired thousands of rockets and mortar rounds into civilian areas of Israel.
"Six civilians, one of whom was a child, were killed on the Israeli side by rockets and mortars fired by Palestinian armed groups, which have also caused damage to homes and other civilian properties in Israel. In addition, 66 Israeli soldiers were killed."
www.aa.com.tr/en
