Human Right Watch: Hamas rocket attacks 'war crimes'

BBC News 08/05/2009 22:11

Hamas has denied that rocket attacks target civilians

The firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip amounts to a war crime, a prominent human rights group has said. Human Right Watch (HRW) said Hamas should "publicly renounce" the attacks and hold those responsible to account.

HRW said while it had also criticised Israel over its actions in Gaza, "violations by one party to a conflict never justify violations by the other".

A Hamas spokesman has dismissed the group's allegations as "biased".

The 31-page report, Rockets from Gaza, covers the period after November 2008, when Hamas and other militant groups resumed attacks after an Israeli incursion into Gaza.

Three Israeli civilians have been killed in such attacks and dozens injured, with some rockets hitting targets as far as 46km (28 miles) from the Gaza Strip.

HRW programme director Iain Levine said the attacks by Hamas were "unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes".

"As the governing authority in Gaza, Hamas should publicly renounce rocket attacks on Israeli civilian centres and punish those responsible, including members of its own armed wing," he added.

Although the number of attacks has decreased in recent months, HRW said they remain "an ongoing threat to the nearly 800,000 Israeli civilians who live and work in range of the rockets".

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