Gaza, September 09: An Israeli human rights group said on Wednesday more than half of the Palestinians killed in the Gaza war were civilians, findings that dispute Israeli military statistics showing most of the dead were militants.
The figures issued by the B’Tselem organisation were broadly in line with those in reports published by groups such as Amnesty International and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights after the 22-day Israeli offensive ended in January.
B’Tselem, in a new report, said 1,387 Palestinians were killed in the war — 773 civilians, 330 combatants, 248 Hamas policemen and 36 people whom the group was unable to classify as combatants or non-combatants.
Among the civilian dead, B’Tselem said, were 320 minors under the age of 18.
The Israeli military has said 1,166 Palestinians were killed during the offensive it dubbed Operation Cast Lead — 709 combatants, 295 civilians and 162 people whose status it was unable to clarify.
In a statement, B’Tselem said its researchers had visited Gaza homes to take witness testimony and collect documents to arrive at its casualty figures. It called on the Israeli government to initiate an independent investigation of the war.
Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed during the offensive that Israel carried out with the declared aim of curtailing cross-border attacks from the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas Islamists.
The Israeli military has said it operated during the war in accordance with international law and had tried, as much as possible, to minimise civilian casualties.
In its mission statement, B’Tselem says it endeavours to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.
—Agencies