The international community has expressed outrage over Israel’s unprecedented bombing of the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 1,500 Palestinians and injured over 6,600 in less than a week.
Human rights groups and experts have accused Israel of violating international law and committing war crimes by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in the besieged enclave.
Israel launched its aerial assault on Gaza on Saturday after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel and took at least 100 people hostage. However, witnesses and journalists on the ground have reported that many of the Israeli strikes have hit residential buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques, media offices, and humanitarian convoys.
Many legal experts and activists have denounced Israel’s bombing of Gaza as a form of collective punishment, which is prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Collective punishment is defined as “penalties imposed by any party to a conflict upon persons or groups on account of acts that these persons or groups have not committed”.