Israeli soldiers unlawfully shot and killed 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children, who were in groups waving white flags during the Gaza war, a report prepared by the US-based Human Rights Watch says. Civilians Killed Holding White Flags in Gaza, published on Thursday (August 13), is HRW's third publication in five months condemning Israel's actions during the Gaza conflict, following allegations over white phosphorous and drones. For its part, the Israeli government appears to have launched a campaign to discredit human-rights groups in an attempt to staunch the flow of damaging evidence of war crimes committed during the Gaza conflict. It has begun by targeting HRW, as well as a local group of dissident army veterans, Breaking the Silence, which last month, published the testimonies of 26 Israeli soldiers who served in Gaza. The "white flags" report published by HRW examines seven incidents during Israel's military offensive in Gaza in January in which soldiers shot and killed 11 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and wounded others. "The Israeli military should conduct thorough, credible investigations into these deaths to tackle the prevailing culture of impunity," it said. The HRW said the 11 people were only small fraction of the total number of civilians and combatants killed in the December-January Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (References for text: Aljazeera English, Agencies. Photo: AP/file)
