Hamas may have committed war crimes, rights group says

“Hamas rocket attacks targeting Israeli civilians are unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes,’’ said Iain Levine of Human Rights Watch. But the report stopped short of accusing Hamas militants of war crimes, with officials saying only a court could make that determination.

Hamas rejected the group’s findings, calling the organization biased.

More than 1,100 Palestinians were killed during the offensive. Palestinians said most were civilians, but Israel disputed that.

Three Israeli civilians were killed by rocket fire and 10 soldiers were also killed during the conflict as Israeli warplanes, tanks, and artillery smashed Palestinian government buildings, and destroyed and damaged thousands of apartments, schools, and factories.

Hamas militants fired hundreds of rockets at southern Israeli towns, forcing thousands of civilians to hide in shelters or to flee. Many of those rockets were filmed by Israeli army drones and seen by foreign observers being launched from crowded Palestinian neighborhoods.

Israel was accused by rights groups of using excessive force and endangering civilians in Gaza.

A small group of Israeli soldiers who fought in the offensive made anonymous statements in a report issued last month saying Israel’s military used Palestinians as human shields, improperly fired incendiary white phosphorous shells over civilian areas, and used overwhelming firepower that caused needless deaths and destruction. The report was released by an organization of Israeli army reservists critical of their country’s treatment of Palestinians.

The army said that if they would come forward and give evidence, the allegations would be investigated. International rights groups have said the degree of force and heavy civilian death toll constituted war crimes, and the UN has begun investigating the actions of Israel and Hamas.

Bill Van Esveld of Human Rights Watch said it was not the numbers of people killed but the intent of armed groups to harm civilians that determined whether they committed war crimes.