The Israeli B'Tselem Center for Human Rights issued a statement on Friday in which it believed that the bombing operations carried out by Israel since the beginning of the war on Gaza "constitute a war crime against humanity that must be stopped immediately."

B’Tselem’s statement said: “The massive destruction in the Gaza Strip is unprecedented. Entire residential neighborhoods were destroyed after Israel dropped thousands of shells on the Strip. Since the start of the war, Israel has dropped thousands of missiles on the Gaza Strip. The residents of the Strip, which is closed in all respects, have no way to take shelter. There are no safe rooms, shelters, or protected areas in the Strip.”

He added: “Residents are waiting with horror and fear, hoping to survive. More than a million people abandoned their homes in an attempt to search for safe places. Some of them were killed on their way to escape, and others were killed in the locations where they took refuge. The center stressed that “Israel, like Hamas, and all countries of the world are obligated to act in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law.”

Two Palestinian women walk near a building destroyed by the Israeli bombing on Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Saturday (AFP)

The Israeli Center for Human Rights said: “It was not human rights organizations or pro-Palestinian bodies that developed the provisions of this law, but rather it was adopted by the consensus of all countries, including Israel, based on the understanding that during the war there should also be rules that would reduce, To a minimum, it reduces the suffering caused to civilians, and ensures that they are kept outside the circles of combat, as much as possible.

It explained: “There are two basic principles that were approved to achieve these goals: The first is the principle of distinction, which determines which targets can be attacked (...), and the second is the principle of proportionality, which determines the method of carrying out the attack... The bombing operations carried out by Israel since the beginning of the war are conducted in a manner completely contradictory to these two principles, and constitute a war crime. The massive destruction in the Gaza Strip is unprecedented. Entire residential neighborhoods were destroyed, and according to the authorities in Gaza, at least 16,000 housing units were completely demolished and at least another 11,000 were no longer habitable. The horrific death toll, which increases daily, is unfathomable to the mind: according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, more than 7,000 people have been killed so far. Among the dead were nearly 3,000 children and minors, more than 1,700 women, and dozens of families who were completely killed and whose homes were destroyed. More than 17,000 people were injured, and about 2,000 are still missing under the rubble.”

B'Tselem pointed out that "it is not possible to reconcile these facts with the provisions of the law mentioned above: neither with the requirement that each of the thousands of targets that were bombed have an 'effective contribution' to Hamas' operations, and that their destruction gives Israel ' A clear military gain.” Nor with the requirement that even if thousands of targets meet these conditions, the harm to the lives and property of thousands of residents is proportional. He added: “Such an interpretation would not only be wrong from a legal standpoint, but also intolerable from a moral standpoint.”

The center said: “Israel claims that (Hamas) is exclusively responsible for these data. This is because it uses the population as human shields, hides weapons in their homes, and fires from among the civilian population on civilian targets inside Israel. Therefore, Israel has no other choice but to harm civilians as well as part of its war against Hamas. But the meaning of placing all responsibility on Hamas is that any action taken by Israel, no matter how terrible and terrifying its results are, will be considered legitimate. This claim has no basis in truth: in international humanitarian law, as in any other law, the principle of reciprocity does not apply: the fact that one party violates the law does not give the other party the right to violate it, too.

The center continued: “On October 7, Hamas carried out horrific war crimes. Hundreds of its activists and other residents of the Gaza Strip entered Israeli territory, shooting in all directions. They entered towns and homes of residents, shot and killed entire families and party participants, burned homes and committed atrocities. More than 1,300 people were killed, thousands more were injured, and many are still missing. More than two hundred people - including children, boys, women and the elderly - were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip and are still being held hostage there. There is, and cannot be, any way to justify these crimes, and any attempt to do so must be rejected and condemned. But these crimes cannot justify the destruction and death that Israel is now imposing on more than two million people, residents of the Gaza Strip. This intentional harm to civilians, their property, and civilian infrastructure is prohibited, and Israel must stop doing so immediately. It is clear that Israel, like any other country, has a duty to defend its citizens. But it is also clear that Israel, like any other state, has a duty to comply with the restrictions set by international humanitarian law.”

It is noteworthy that “B’Tselem” is the Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories, which works to end the occupation. The name “B’Tselem” comes from the verse in the Torah that states, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” (Genesis 1:27), and it expresses the universal and Jewish obligation to respect the human rights of all human beings. Since its establishment in 1989, it has been documenting, investigating and publishing information, testimonies, photographic documentation, position papers and reports about Israel’s human rights violations in the occupied territories.