Amnesty slams both Israel, Palestine for human rights abuse

The London-based rights watchdog cited Israel's "unlawful killings, obstruction of medical assistance and targeting of medical personnel, extensive and wanton destruction of property, torture and cruel and inhuman treatment, unlawful confinement and the use of human shields."

The rights group said "at least 1,000 Palestinian were killed by the Israeli army (in 2002) and most of them unlawfully. They included 150 children and at least 35 individuals killed in targeted assassinations."

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The group also denounced the army's "prolonged closures and curfews" which have been systematically imposed since Israeli troops re-occupied most of the West Bank in June 2002 to crack down on militants.

The report said thousands of Palestinians were arrested, among them hundreds of minors, and that more than 3,000 remained in military jail where it alleged torture was widespread.

Amnesty also condemned "the deliberate targeting of (Israeli) civilians by Palestinian groups," which it said "constituted crimes against humanity."

It said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had not done enough to put an end to anti-Israeli attacks beyond verbal condemnation since "in the overwhelming majority of cases those responsible for ordering or planning such attacks were not brought to justice and not investigation were known to have been carried out."