Israeli attacks on Gaza families must be investigated as war crimes, say human rights groups

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Palestinian boy Mohammed Wahdan, whom medics said was wounded in an Israeli shelling, is held by his aunt as he receives psychological care at Shifa hospital in Gaza City

Whether the shell that killed eight members of the Wahdan family in their home was fired randomly or deliberately targeted is unknown.

What is clear is that the Israeli army knew of the house and the people who lived there. The three-storey structure in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun was pulverised to rubble during an Israeli artillery barrage on the morning of July 26. The women, children and elderly people cowering inside stood no chance under the cascade of masonry and stonework that crashed down upon them. Only severed limbs and body parts have since been recovered from the wreckage.

Human rights activists are pointing to the fate of the Wahdans as evidence of possible war crimes committed by Israeli forces during the offensive in Gaza that claimed nearly 2,000 Palestinian lives.

Campaigners say the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas, currently stalled by a ceasefire, has decimated or even wiped out an unprecedented number of families in the Palestinian territory. They are now trying to gather the evidence of possible war crimes committed by Israeli forces. Last week, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, told The Telegraph that the Palestinian Authority was on the verge of signing the Rome Statute and joining the International Criminal Court. If so, any evidence gathered in Gaza could provide a basis for future legal action against Israel.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11039636/Israeli-attacks-on-Gaza-families-must-be-investigated-as-war-crimes-say-human-rights-groups.html

Just some more Israeli atrocities.