AMNESTY International issued a report on the Israeli war on Gaza, in November of 2012, and statedthat its investigations conducted that both Israel and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, violated international humanitarian law, and committed war crimes.AMNESTY said that Israel’s “Pillar Of Defense” military offensive on Gaza, targeted civilian residential areas, and added that the Israeli Air Force carried out disproportionate assaults that led to dozens of civilian casualties.
It also accused fighters of the Hamas movement, along with other Palestinian fighters, of committing war crimes by firing shells into civilian areas in Israel.
As for the Palestinian detainees, held by Israel, AMNESTY said that Israel is still holding captive 4500 Palestinians, including 178 Administrative Detainees imprisoned without charges, and added that, comparing to previous years, the number of Palestinian detainees currently held by Israel is relatively low.
It said that Palestinian detainees testified of being tortured during interrogation, shackled in painful ways, their limbs were bound, were forced to sit for extended periods, subjected to sleep deprivation, threatened and verbally abused, in addition to being denied the right to a lawyer.
Furthermore, AMNESTY said that the Hamas-led government in Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, are conducting arbitrarily arrests of hundreds of Palestinians without granting them access to legal representation.
It added that the Palestinian human rights group, the Independent Commission for Human Rights, received last year 685 complaints of arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment, in the West Bank and 470 in the Gaza Strip.
The group also said that Israel is not holding its soldiers responsible for killing and wounding Palestinian civilians, and for abusing and torturing the detainees, and that Tell Aviv is not protecting the Palestinians, and their property, from the escalating attacks carried out by Israeli settlers.
It is worth mentioning that Palestinian detainee, identified as Arafat Jaradat, 30, died in March due to extreme torture carried out by Israeli interrogators, and detainee Maisara Abu Hamdiyya, 64, died of an advanced stage of cancer, resulting from the lack of medical treatment.
During the 8-day war in November of last year, Israeli missiles and shells killed 191 Palestinians, mainly children, women and elderly, while at least 1492 Palestinians have been injured, dozens seriously.
48 children, including 16 under the age of five, have been killed by Israeli missiles and shells, in addition to 12 women and 20 elderly.
1492 Palestinians, including 533 children (195 under the age of 5), 254 women and 103 elderly have been injured by Israeli fire and shells.
