Israeli attack on Gaza strip ‘apparently broke law’: HRW

Israeli air raids that demolished four high-rise buildings in the besieged Gaza Strip during its assault on the enclave in May apparently violated international laws of war, a leading international human rights group said yesterday, calling on the Israeli military to produce evidence justifying the attacks.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted although no one was harmed in the air raids, the attacks damaged neighbouring buildings, left dozens of people homeless, and destroyed scores of businesses.

"The apparently unlawful Israeli strikes on four high-rise towers in Gaza City caused serious, lasting harm for countless Palestinians who lived, worked, shopped or benefited from businesses based there," said Richard Weir, crisis and conflict researcher for the New York-based group.

"The Israeli military should publicly produce the evidence that it says it relies on to carry out these attacks."

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the report. But at the time it accused Hamas – the group that governs the enclave – of using the buildings for military purposes and turning their occupants into human shields. However, it provided no evidence to back up its claims.

It was HRW's third report on the 11-day Israeli offensive, which was marked by its intensity and the targeting of civilian structures.

It previously accused Israel of apparent war crimes for attacks it said had no clear military targets but killed dozens of civilians. Examining the actions of Palestinian groups out of the Gaza Strip, it also said that they fired rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities, constituting a war crime.

Both sides denied the accusations.

The conflict erupted on May 10 after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets towards Israel in support of Palestinian protests against Israel's heavy-handed policing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by illegal Jewish settlers in the nearby neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The rockets were launched just minutes after the passing of a Hamas-issued ultimatum for Israel to withdraw its forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as well as Sheikh Jarrah.