Israeli attacks on Gaza journos 'unlawful'
2012-12-20 19:23
Gaza - Israel's killing of two Palestinian journalists and
attacks on media facilities during its Gaza offensive last month violated the
laws of war, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
Two cameramen working for al-Aqsa TV, a station affiliated
with Gaza's Hamas-run government, were killed by Israeli air strikes on their
car on 20 November.
Israeli planes also bombed a tower block housing many of
Gaza's local and international media offices, in attacks that Israel said at
the time targeted the communications infrastructure and personnel of militant
groups.
"Just because Israel says a journalist was a fighter or
a TV station was a command centre does not make it so," Sarah Leah Witson,
Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement released by the
New York-based organisation.
"Journalists who praise Hamas and TV stations that
applaud attacks on Israel may be propagandists, but that does not make them
legitimate targets under the laws of war," she said.
Human Rights Watch said at least 10 media workers were
wounded in attacks on three buildings housing media facilities. A two-year-old
boy who lived across the street from one of the buildings was killed, the
organisation added.
Commenting on the group's statement, the Israeli military
said it "acts in accordance with the laws of armed conflict, despite the
ongoing deliberate violations and abuse of these laws by the terrorist
organisations in the Gaza Strip".
"The details of the events mentioned in the report are
being checked," the military said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
"Once this process is complete, we will be able to provide a comprehensive
response."
Some 170 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and six Israelis,
including two soldiers, were killed during the offensive that Israel launched
with the declared aim of curbing cross-border rocket fire.
