Israel’s blockade of Gaza has resulted in a humanitarian crisis, Amnesty Inter-national said in its annual report.
“Mass unemployment, extreme poverty, food insecurity and food price rises caused by shortages left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid,” said the 2010 report, released May 27. “The scope of the blockade and statements made by Israeli officials about its purpose showed that it was being imposed as a form of collective punishment of Gazans, a flagrant violation of international law.”
The report also accused Israel of “war crimes and other serious breaches of international law” during the Gaza war that ended in January 2009. Amnesty International criticized Israel for not cooperating with the Goldstone Commission’s investigation.
In criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians living in the West Bank, the report citied unlawful detentions, house demolitions and the expansion of Jewish settlements.
Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, told the Jerusalem Post that the Amnesty report “repeated discredited allegations and distorted human rights rhetoric used to target Israel.”
He added: “Accusations of ‘war crimes,’ ‘indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against civilians’ and ‘target[ing] and kill[ing] medical staff’ are made without any credible evidence and reflect the ideological bias that determines the content of Amnesty publications on Israel.” — jta