It has one year since Israel brutally killed hundreds of Palestinians.Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes during its campaign in Gaza.A report released by the group said that Israel displayed “callous indifference” launching attacks on family homes in the densely populated coastal strip and in some cases its conduct amounted to war crimes. The 50-day war killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 72 people on the Israeli side, all but six of whom were soldiers.A war crime is defined as a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions or international humanitarian law. Both Israel and the United States are signatories to the Geneva Conventions.Two basic principles underlie the definition of a war crime. One is the principle of distinction, and the other is the principle of proportionality. The principle of distinction means that armed forces must distinguish between civilian populations or targets and military forces or targets, and they are prohibited from deliberately targeting civilians. The principle of proportionality means that the armed forces of a country cannot attack a military target in a way that would result in the loss of civilian life or property disproportionate to the military advantage to be gained. However Israel violated both of the laws. Apart from brazen killing of Palestinians, Israel strangles the lifeblood out of Gaza, severely limiting materials or humanitarian aid from entering. And sadly, as the world knows, last year s onslaught was the third such murderous assault in six years on the men, women and children who are caged in the Gaza Strip. And sadly, to the world s shame, Israel has not been held accountable for its wanton rampages of bigotry, fury and blood-lust targeting those men, women and children. Israel seems to have a carte blanche to do as it pleases, safe in the knowledge that the United Nations Security Council can never condemn it because the political leaders with blood-stained hands in power in Tel Aviv are protected by the United States and its veto power. Some 551 children were killed in Gaza and 3,436 were injured during the conflict, while an estimated 1,500 lost their parents, according to one recent report by Save the Children. They still suffer from nightmares and bed wetting and live in fear of further fighting. Where is the justice for these children? By Just holding Israel responsible for war crimes would not be enough, until Israel is punished hardly it would continue massacre of Palestinians. However the million dollar question is that who would punish Israel?
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