Palestinian human rights officials suggested the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank may file formal war crimes charges against Israel in international court for activity in the Hamas-held Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces launched their twelfth day of assaults on the tiny enclave on the border with Egypt. Hamas, the militant leadership of the Gaza Strip, violated a six-month cease-fire with rocket barrages on the Israeli border town of Ashkelon.
Raji Sourani with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the Palestinian Authority will conduct legal proceedings against top Israeli officials for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip offensive, the Inter Press Service said Wednesday.
“The repeated bombing of clearly marked civilian buildings, where civilians were sheltering, crosses several red lines in regard to international law,” Sourani said.
The United Nations called for investigations into the shelling of a Gazan school in the Jabaliya refugee camp Tuesday, which killed some 40 Palestinians. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent, meanwhile, condemned Israeli strikes on aid vehicles, which the ICRC said were clearly marked.
Israeli officials denied any deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians, claiming they were collateral damage due to the Hamas tactic of operating in densely populated areas. Both sides agreed to daily 3-hour cease fires to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
At least 658 Palestinians were killed in the offensive since Dec. 27. Ten Israelis, seven of them soldiers, died in the conflicts. Four of those seven were from friendly fire, however.
