Even Israelis are questioning targeting of civilians

Shopkeepers say they were sitting outside their shuttered businesses on Wednesday, catching a break from being cooped up during wartime, when an Israeli missile struck a nearby mosque, killing a truck driver and wounding 45 people.

One of those wounded by shrapnel said from his hospital gurney that the strike came without warning.

Israel has defended such strikes on civilian sites — nearly 500 homes, 16 mosques and at least two hospitals, by Palestinian count — by saying that Hamas hides weapons and fighters there or that tunnels into Israel originate in such places.

Three-fourths of the Palestinians killed in more than two weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting were civilians, according to UN figures. One in four was a minor, it said.

Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said on Wednesday that some of the recent Israeli attacks, including those on homes and on a care center for the disabled, raise “a strong possibility that international law has been violated in a manner that could amount to war crimes.”

She also condemned indiscriminate Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians — including some 3,000 rockets fired since July 8 that have killed three Israeli civilians — and said storing military equipment in civilian areas or launching attacks from there is unacceptable.

But, she said, “the actions of one party do not absolve the other party of the need to respect its obligations under international law.”

The UN Human Rights Council voted later on Wednesday to establish an independent commission to investigate possible violations of international law during the fighting.

The Palestinian human rights group Mezan said that 477 homes have been destroyed in targeted hits since July 8, and that 332 people died in their homes as a result of military operations.

On Wednesday, Palestinian officials reported an airstrike on the Shamea Mosque in Gaza City and said Red Crescent cars and a Red Cross convoy came under heavy fire when they entered a small Gaza town near the border with Israel to evacuate the dead and wounded.

In another incident, witnessed by Associated Press journalists, Red Cross staff and members of the Palestinian civil defense came under fire as they approached the Israeli front line in an attempt to remove casualties from the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyah.

The airstrike on the Shamea Mosque came just before noon. One man was killed, identified by police as 25-year-old truck driver Nidal al-Ijla. Forty-five people were wounded, said Palestinian health official Ashraf Al Kidra.

Hussam Odeh, a clothing shop owner who was hit in the face by shrapnel, said he and other merchants were sitting outside when a large explosion went off. No warning was given, said Odeh, 27, and a cousin, as they were patched up in a hospital emergency room.

Displaced Gaza residents describing their ordeal have said consistently that they fled in haste, with few belongings, and made no mention of attempts by Hamas to keep them in their homes. Nahed Sirsawi, 30, a displaced resident of Shijaiah, said her husband had received a call from the Israeli army late last week, telling him the family had five minutes to leave the house before bombing would begin.

The call set in motion a terrifying odyssey, with the family of seven seeking refuge in a series of homes of relatives, only to be exposed to more tank shelling or told again by the army to evacuate.

Eventually, the Sirsawis found refuge in the St. Porphyrios Church in Gaza City along with dozens of others from their area. Yet even the church wasn’t safe, she said. This week, several missiles hit a nearby cemetery, sending debris flying into the church courtyard.

“I don’t feel safe anywhere,” she said, pointing to where shrapnel hit inside the church library where her family was sleeping.

Israel said that it can’t be held hostage by Hamas’ decision to fire from within densely populated areas, and that it has an obligation to defend Israeli civilians. Government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel’s response is “both measured and proportionate.”

But even in Israel, some — still a fringe — are questioning this.

In a letter to Israel’s defense minister, a number of local aid organizations demanded Israel ensure the humanitarian needs of the civilian population, especially water and electricity. A few celebrities have spoken out against the airstrikes, then faced a flood of criticism for doing so.

News shows are still dominated by calls to let the army “complete its job.” The attitude derives from a widespread sense in Israel that Hamas is evil incarnate and that the militants actually want civilians to be killed for the propaganda value.