Amnesty International (AI) has said that US ammunition used in two Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip killed 43 civilians, including 19 children and 14 women, according to a statement the organization released on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the non-governmental organization (NGO), “Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), manufactured in the United States, was used by the Israeli Defense Forces in two deadly and illegal air strikes on homes full of civilians in the United States. Strip. of Gaza,” based on a new investigation into these attacks.
According to the statement, AI concluded that these airstrikes were direct actions against civilians and called for them to be investigated as war crimes.
The organization found characteristic fragments of the ammunition in the rubble of destroyed houses in central Gaza, after two attacks that killed a total of 43 civilians: 19 children, 14 women and 10 men. In both cases, survivors told Amnesty International that they had not been warned of an impending attack.
On October 10, an airstrike on the al-Najjar family home in Deir al-Balah killed 24 people. Later, on October 22, an airstrike on the Abu Mu’eileq family home, also in Gaza, killed 19 people. Both houses were located south of Wadi Gaza, in the area where the Israeli army ordered residents of northern Gaza to move on October 13.
“The fact that American-made ammunition is being used by the Israeli military in illegal attacks that have deadly consequences for civilians should be an urgent warning to the government. [do Presidente dos EUA, Joe] Biden. US-made weapons have caused mass deaths among extended families,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“Two families were decimated in these attacks, providing further evidence that the Israeli army is responsible for illegally killing and injuring civilians in the bombing of Gaza,” Agnès Callamard also stressed.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General believed that “the US and other governments should immediately stop transferring weapons to Israel as they are likely to be used to commit or increase the risk of violations of international law.”
According to AI, in light of evidence of war crimes and other violations, the United States should follow its own laws and policies regarding arms transfers and sales, including its Conventional Arms Transfer Policy and Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, which together are intended to preventable arms transfers that could facilitate or otherwise contribute to harm to civilians and violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.
Amnesty International found no evidence that there were military targets at the site of the two attacks or that the people in the buildings were legitimate military targets, raising concerns that these attacks targeted civilians.
AI interviewed six survivors and relatives of victims of the attacks and also analyzed satellite images, which showed destruction at the relevant locations over a period consistent with witness accounts.
The NGO sent questions about the two attacks to the Israeli army’s spokesperson unit on November 21. At the time of publication of this survey, no response had been received.
The organization has long been calling on the United Nations Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on all parties involved in the conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel. AI also urged the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accelerate the investigation opened in 2021 into war crimes and other crimes against international law committed by all parties.
Source: DN
