Group accuses Israel of war crimes
Joel Greenberg The New York Times
Monday, November 4, 2002
JERUSALEM A new report by the human rights group Amnesty International says that Israeli forces committed war crimes in Nablus and Jenin during a large-scale offensive in the West Bank last spring, killing Palestinians unlawfully, blocking medical care, using people as human shields and bulldozing houses with residents inside.
The assertions in the report, to be issued Monday, are the first time the group has accused Israeli forces of committing war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where they have been battling a violent Palestinian uprising for more than two years. A report issued by the rights group in July called attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli civilians crimes against humanity.
"The information in this report suggests that the Israeli Defense Forces committed violations of international law during the course of military operations in Jenin and Nablus, including war crimes, for which they must be held accountable," the new report says in its conclusions.
The 76-page study focuses on army actions in Nablus in Jenin between April and June, and is based on interviews with witnesses, visits to sites of the fighting, autopsies by a forensic specialist and assessments of a military expert.
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