The human rights organisation Amnesty International has reported incidents of suspected human rights violations that it describes as being perpetrated on a daily basis in Gaza. As a consequence, the organisation is calling for the international community to launch an impartial investigation to bring to account those who have committed abuses of human rights and humanitarian law.

Any investigation must involve an examination of the ‘disproportionate’ attacks fired by the Israeli army as well as the ‘indiscriminate’ rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups into Southern Israel.

Human rights groups including Amnesty have drawn attention to how civilians are being targeted in the Gaza conflict. Most of Gaza’s civilian population do not have the basic necessities for their sustenance. Civilians are increasingly vulnerable due to the lack of humanitarian aid available during consistent attacks and hospitals are ‘overstretched and lacking basic necessities’.

Israel and Palestinian armed groups are being called upon to cease all attacks. Amnesty International also requests that all parties should abide by a ‘humanitarian truce’ in order to allow the civilian population access to humanitarian aid. Amnesty describes the daily three-hour ‘lull in fighting’ as ‘grossly insufficient’ and it has often not been fully respected in practice. Further requests include for all parties to the conflict to respect the work undertaken by medical personnel in assisting injured civilians. Finally, Israel has been called on specifically to allow ‘immediate and unfettered access’ for humanitarian workers, human rights workers and journalists, and to allow ambulances to move freely in order to carry out their work.