Israeli embassy blasts ‘decontextualised’ Amnesty Gaza report

The Israeli embassy has attacked “outrageous” statements by Amnesty International following the publication of its latest report into the actions of the Israeli military during this summer’s conflict in Gaza.

Dated 9 December, the charity’s most recent report, called ‘Nothing is Immune: Israel’s destruction of landmark buildings in Gaza,’ highlights the damage done in Israeli bombing raids.

However an embassy statement said: “Amnesty chooses to focus on monetary losses to Palestinian civilians, rather than investigate the systematic and deliberate firing of rockets and mortars at Israel’s civilian population.”

Blasting the report as “decontextualised,” officials suggest it also puts lives at risk, saying: “Amnesty ignores that in some cases, releasing information that would disclose in detail the target of military strikes might jeopardise classified information and intelligence sources.”

The report seeks to show a balanced view, acknowledging that “the Israeli military took measures to ensure that residents left the targeted buildings before their destruction”. It also lays the blame for the destruction of lives and buildings on both Hamas and Israel.

However it concludes that IDF attacks were “intended as a form of collective punishment against the people of Gaza” and calls for an independent investigation into possible war crimes.

But the embassy were unimpressed at the organisation’s efforts to strike a balance, saying: “The absence of reports on Hamas, coupled with outrageous public statements by Amnesty officials recently, comparing Israel to the terror group ISIL, cast serious doubt as to Amnesty’s capacity to play a constructive role in covering this issue.”