MIDDLE EAST: Amnesty International has urged Ireland to tackle Israel over its destruction of thousands of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, some of which it says amount to war crimes.
The human rights group made the call for Ireland to act as EU president prior to its release today of a report documenting an unprecedented number of illegal house demolitions by Israel in the past 3½ years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
The launch of the highly-critical study coincides with an exodus of residents from Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army plans to raze hundreds of buildings to "neutralise" militants following attacks there last week in which seven Israeli soldiers were killed.
Ms Donnatella Rovera, from Amnesty's Middle East Programme, said the continuing house demolitions were a violation of international law.
"We are also extremely concerned about the long-term impact this will have on the lives of the people who live in these areas. Over 18,000 people have lost their homes in the entire Gaza Strip in the past 3½ years, and most of them have not been able to rebuild them."
Mr Brian Dooley, from Amnesty International's Irish section, in Jerusalem for the report's launch, said: "Ireland has a special responsibility as the EU presidency to tackle this directly with Israel, and it must not shy away from also confronting America's President Bush with these realities at next month's EU-US summit."
Amnesty's report documents the Israeli army's demolition of more than 3,000 homes and hundreds of public and private commercial properties, as well as the destruction of vast areas of agricultural land in Israel and the occupied territories.
Tens of thousands of people have been made homeless or have lost their source of livelihood.
In most cases, the Israeli authorities justify the destruction on military-security grounds, which Amnesty says include "punitive" demolitions of houses belonging to Palestinians known or suspected of involvement in suicide bombings or other attacks against Israeli civilians.
Cases detailed include the death of a pregnant mother of 10 whose home collapsed after the army blew up an adjacent house in the central Gaza Strip.
In a separate incident in the West Bank city of Nablus, the body of a 40-year-old pregnant woman lay under the rubble of her demolished home for days as an Israeli army curfew prevented rescue efforts.
The report acknowledges Israel's right to take "reasonable, necessary and proportionate" measures to protect its citizens from suicide bombings and other attacks by Palestinians.
However, Israel is forbidden under international law as an occupying power from destroying Palestinian property "unless absolutely necessary for a legitimate military purpose".
The Israeli government said the report ignored the reality that the suffering of the Palestinian population "is a direct result of Palestinian terrorism aimed at innocent Israelis, and the need for Israel to protect its citizens from these abhorrent attacks".
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, in an open letter to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, as current president of the EU Council, has called for international protection for Palestinian civilians in light of the intensification of military strikes in the Gaza Strip.