conflict released its report on the possible commission of war crimes in Gaza during the 2014 conflict between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the enclave.
The report suggests that possible war crimes were committed by both Palestinian and Israeli armed sides during the conflict.
According to the report’s findings, the 2014 hostilities saw a “huge increase” in the firepower used in Gaza with Israeli forces conducting more than 6,000 airstrikes and firing approximately 50,000 tank and artillery shells at targets within the enclave. The explosion of force used by Israel ultimately resulted in 1,462 Palestinian civilian casualties, a third of which were children. At the same time, the Commission reported that Palestinian militants had also fired 4,881 rockets and 1,753 mortars towards Israel in July and August of last year, killing 6 civilians and injuring at least 1,600 people.
Moreover, the fighting in Gaza also resulted in the massive destruction of civilian infrastructure with some 100,000 residents still homeless, according to recent UN estimates. Much of the destruction, notes the UN report, could be blamed on Israel’s use of weaponry with a wide kill and injury radius, particularly in the densely populated areas of Gaza where destruction and casualties are very likely.
The full Report of the detailed findings of the Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict is available on GlobalSecurity.org:
The report follows the 14 June 2015 publication by Israel of its own report on Operation Protective Edge, ostensibly aimed at preemptively countering the UN report. That report can be accessed here
