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This report illustrates the scale and range of serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law perpetrated by the Israeli army during Operation Cast Lead. It stresses that these violations follow decades of impunity for previous violations and demonstrates how eight months on, in the context of the Gaza blockade and continued military occupation, Palestinian children remain unable to rebuild their lives.
The report is based on sworn victim and witness testimonies and extensive field investigations. Through the presentation of 43 case studies, the report illustrates the scale and range of serious violations of international law, in particular rules and norms related to international humanitarian law, child rights and children in armed conflict, perpetrated during Israel's 23-day military offensive Operation Cast Lead. These violations include unlawful killing and maiming, the obstruction of medical access, the destruction of schools, homes and life-sustaining infrastructure such as water and sanitation networks, the use of children as human shields and the arbitrary detention of children.
The report stresses that the violations perpetrated during Operation Cast Lead represent an escalation of ongoing abuses committed against children in the last years. In the eight years prior to the launch of Operation Cast Lead, Israeli military actions resulted in the deaths of at least 623 children in the Gaza Strip; the number of Palestinian children confirmed killed during Operation Cast Lead represents more than 50 percent of this figure.
The report includes the testimonies of child survivors and recent interviews demonstrating that some children are unable to recover from their trauma and rebuild their lives; thousands remain displaced as the illegal siege on the Gaza Strip obstructs reconstruction, and thousands more live in constant fear of renewed assaults as the perpetrators of serious international law violations remain at liberty to order, or commit, further attacks.
Further information
- OPT: More Palestinian children getting jailed (25 September 2009)
- OPT: UN condemns 'war crimes' in Gaza (September 2009)
- More on child rights in the OPT
pdf: http://www.dci-pal.org/english/publ/research/BearingTheBruntAgain.pdf