AMNESTY ACCUSES ISRAEL OF WAR CRIMES
Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press, 11/4/02
JERUSALEM - Israel committed "war crimes," including unlawful killings, in Jenin and Nablus during a broad military offensive in those West Bank cities in April, the human rights group Amnesty International said Monday.
The Israeli military defended the offensive, saying it was launched against Palestinian militants in response to suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.
Amnesty International also said that Shaul Mofaz, a former army chief of staff who was to become defense minister Monday, could be charged with war crimes for overseeing the military actions in Jenin and Nablus...
In the Amnesty report, titled "Israel and the Occupied Territories: Shielded from Scrutiny - IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus," Amnesty said there is "clear evidence that some of the acts committed by the Israel Defense Forces ... were war crimes."
Israeli carried out "unlawful killings, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, wanton destruction of hundreds of homes," according to Amnesty.
Soldiers also blocked access to ambulances and denied humanitarian assistance, leaving the wounded and dead lying in the streets for days, and used Palestinians as "human shields" while searching for suspected militants, Amnesty said…
SEE ALSO: Amnesty Report: IDF Violations in Jenin and Nablus
web.amnesty.org\ISRAEL/OCCUPIED+TERRITORIES |
