The Israeli army has needlessly killed many innocent civilians over the past week, an Israeli human rights group claimed today.
The incursions into six Palestinian towns have caused a shortage of food in a number of places and Israeli troops have struck hospitals and schools, the B'tselem group says in a report.
The incursions are part of Israel's escalated military response to the killing of an Israeli Cabinet minister on October 17th.
"Security justifications cannot excuse a widespread assault on hundreds of thousands of civilians," B'tselem said. "An indiscriminate assault on this scale constitutes collective punishment, forbidden under international law."
The Israeli army rejected the accusations, insisting that it was operating only out of security considerations to prevent Palestinian militants from carrying out attacks in Israel.
An army spokesman stated Israeli forces weren't trying to hit civilians, but claimed many had been caught in the crossfire or hit by Palestinian fire.
The report cited three instances of what it called "negligent treatment toward harming civilians."
In one case, Riham Wared, 10, was killed when her school in the West Bank city of Jenin was shot at on October 18th, the day the Israeli incursions began.