Amid Gaza fighting, Israel could face questions on tactics
Residents say the airstrike came without warning: With fighting raging between Israel and Islamic Jihad (IJ) militants throughout Gaza, two loud blasts shook the night, destroying the Abu Malhous home and killing eight members of the family in a split second.
As Israel claims victory in its latest battle against Gaza militants, its tactics of carrying out airstrikes on private homes suspected of harboring militants could once again come under scrutiny over the civilian death toll. Among the 34 people killed in the two-day flareup were 16 civilians, including two 7-year-old boys and two toddlers, according to human rights investigators.
A truce announced early on Thursday appeared to be breaking down less than 24 hours later, as Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza overnight Friday after a series of Palestinian rocket attacks. AbdelHajj Musleh, a neighbor, said many children lived in the house in the central Gaza town of Deir El-Balah. “If there had been a warning, no one would have waited for this death and destruction,” he said.
Since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, Israel has fought three wars and dozens of skirmishes against militant groups. While the wars have inflicted heavy damage on Hamas and the smaller IJ group, hundreds of civilians have also died in Israeli airstrikes.
The high civilian death toll has drawn heavy international criticism, and the International Criminal Court in The Hague has opened a preliminary investigation into Israel’s battlefield tactics.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters its targets are based on sophisticated intelligence and cleared by legal advisers and other experts, and that it often warns inhabitants to evacuate before their homes are struck. It says it has finetuned its guided missiles, delivering small payloads that minimize damage beyond the precise target.
The latest round of fighting began early Tuesday when an Israeli airstrike killed Bahaa Abu Al-Ata, a senior IJ commander who Israel said was responsible for numerous rocket attacks and was planning a deadly infiltration operation into Israel. The airstrike hit the top-floor apartment in Gaza City where he was sleeping, killing him and his wife. Conricus said Israel had been following Abu Al-Ata for 10 days but had held off attacking him sooner because he routinely surrounded himself with crowds of civilians for protection.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a group of Israeli soldiers to congratulate them on what he called a successful mission. “Our enemies got the message,” he said. “We can reach anyone, even in their beds.”
Such airstrikes can be permissible under international law, depending on the threat posed by the target and whether the damage to civilians is “proportional” to the military said Omar Shakir, the country director of Human Rights Watch. “Too often civilians pay the price for political brinkmanship by states and armed group,” Shakir said. “We’ve seen several rounds of fighting now in Gaza where civilians have lost their lives or had their property damaged and faced harrowing circumstances as the result of unlawful attacks by both parties.”
Palestinian militants also have come under international criticism for firing rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilian areas. The Israeli military said dozens of the rockets this week were misfired and landed inside Gaza, with one believed to have damaged the offices of the International Commission for Human Rights, a Palestinian watchdog group. The group stopped short of criticizing the militants and called for an investigation of the incident.
In the case of Thursday’s airstrike in Deir El-Balah, neighbors said an IJ commander lived in the home that was destroyed. However, the commander wasn’t home and had apparently gone into hiding. Instead, his brother, Rasmi Abu Malhous was killed, along with both of their wives and five children under the age of 13. They including his 7-year-old son and two nephews, ages 2 and 3.
The neighbors, speaking on condition of anonymity because they did not want to anger the family, said Rasmi Abu Malhous, 45, was not involved in any militant activity.
The home was virtually disintegrated by the blast, leaving a large crater with kitchenware, pillows and mattresses strewn about. Neighbors dug out eight bodies and tried to salvage some school backpacks and clothes.