Israel used drones to kill Palestinians: HRW

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Israel used drones to kill Palestinians: HRW
Mohammed Mar'i | Arab News

RAMALLAH: The New York-based Human Rights Watch yesterday said missile-firing Israeli drones unlawfully killed at least 29 Palestinians during the Gaza Strip war.

The HRW said in a new report that Israel used remote-piloted crafts to fire guided missiles on Gaza Strip during its offensive and demanded the Israeli forces release its footage of the deadly strikes.

Despite having advanced surveillance equipment, drone operators failed to exercise proper caution "as required by the laws of war" in verifying their targets were combatants, the New York-based monitoring group said, issuing a 39-page report that air described six alleged strikes by remote-controlled craft.

Israel has a fleet of spy drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but refuses to confirm or deny widespread beliefs that some of the aircraft also carry weapons.

The military cast doubt on Human Rights Watch's research methods — a criticism echoed by some experts — and, in a statement, asserted that all Israeli actions "conform to international law, as do the weapons and munitions used."

Israel launched its December-January offensive to counter rocket fire from Hamas-ruled Gaza, and has since weathered foreign censure over the killing of some 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, during the fighting.

THE HRW based its findings primarily on debris from Israeli-made Spike missiles, which it said are fired from drones.

The report also called on Israel to publish drone surveillance footage, to show how targets were identified.

Spike's state-owned manufacturer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., says the missile, which has been sold widely abroad, can be fired by helicopters, infantry and naval craft.

Asked how it was possible to know that the Spikes in question had been fired by drones rather than these other means, Marc Garlasco, Human Rights Watch's military analyst, cited the corroboration of Palestinians who said they had seen or heard the pilotless planes.

The value of such forensics was disputed by Robert Hewson, editor of Jane's Air-Launched Weapons.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section ... m=7&y=2009