Iran Press/ Europe: Amnesty International announced its investigations have proved that two Israeli strikes last month that killed 46 people in Gaza “were indiscriminate attacks or direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects, which must be investigated as war crimes”.
The incidents probed by Amnesty were an attack on Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City on October 19 and another on a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp the following day.
“These deadly, unlawful attacks are part of a documented pattern of disregard for Palestinian civilians and demonstrate the devastating impact of the Israeli military’s unprecedented onslaught has left nowhere safe in Gaza, regardless of where civilians live or seek shelter,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty director of global research, advocacy, and policy.
“We urge the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to take immediate concrete action to expedite the investigation into war crimes and other crimes under international law opened in 2021,” Guevara Rosas added.
During its investigation, Amnesty said it spoke to more than a dozen people, including survivors, and reviewed satellite imagery and open-source audio-visual material.
On 19 October, an Israeli air strike destroyed a building in the compound of the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church in the heart of Gaza’s old city, where an estimated 450 internally displaced members of Gaza’s small Christian community were sheltering. The strike killed 18 civilians and injured at least 12 others.
Also on 20 October at around 2 pm local time, 28 civilians – including 12 children – were killed by an Israeli strike, which destroyed the al-Aydi family home and severely damaged two neighboring houses in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, within the area where the Israeli military had ordered residents of northern Gaza to move to.
Amnesty International calls for an immediate ceasefire
Amnesty International is calling for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to aid for people in Gaza amidst an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
The organization has documented damning evidence of war crimes by Israeli forces in their Gaza offensive, including other indiscriminate attacks, that have resulted in mass civilian casualties, wiped out entire families, and destroyed residential neighborhoods.
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