Arab group: Israel committed war crimes during Lebanon war

Arab Association for Human Rights says Israel violated international humanitarian law during Second Lebanon War by 'positioning temporary and permanent military outposts in close proximity to Arab communities'. IDF: decision on where to position these installations was based solely on operational considerations

"The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) published a report Tuesday in which it claimed that Israel violated international humanitarian law during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006 "by positioning temporary and permanent military outposts in close proximity to Arab communities".

"A fundamental principle of international humanitarian law is that civilians must be afforded maximum protection." Concern was voiced that the violation of international humanitarian law may explain the particularly high number of civilian fatalities and injuries (during the war), according to the report.

The report's authors claim that it is based on the testimonies of 80 Arab residents, documenting 20 Arab-Israeli communities that were hit by an estimated total of some 660 rockets, killing 14 civilians directly.

"The investigation found that the Arab towns and villages that suffered the most intensive attacks during the war were ones that were surrounded by military installations, either on a permanent basis or temporarily during the course of the war," the report said....."

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This confirms what the British journalist Jonathan Cook, who lives in Nazareth, asserted during and after the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the summer of 2006. He basically said the same thing that the report now reveals.