Palestinian militants in Gaza violated laws of war when launching rockets during their conflict with Israel, asserted the US based human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW).
HRW's Middle East Director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said,
“Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim. There is simply no legal justification for launching rockets at populated areas,”
Human Rights Watch research found that certain militant groups in Gaza repeatedly fired rockets into densely populated residential areas and unnecessarily putting civilians at risk. A militant group in Gaza, The Nasser Salahaddin Brigades, stated that it had launched four rockets as a “revenge invoice” in response to Israeli shelling that killed civilians in Gaza.
Human Rights Watch reiterated that all attacks against civilians, regardless of unlawful attacks by the other side, were considered as war crimes.
Human Rights Watch went on to note that, Hamas, the ruling authority in Gaza, is obligated to uphold the laws of war and were expected to punish those in Gaza that were responsible for violations.
