IDF says HRW report on Gaza contains ‘blatant misrepresentations’ and ‘factual distortion’

The IDF says in a statement that a Human Rights Watch report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza “follows their long-standing pattern of anti-Israel bias and factual distortion.”

The report, the IDF says in an English-language statement, “selectively presents information in a manner that obscures context, as well as makes certain blatant misrepresentations.” The Israeli military says that the report in question “relies heavily on Hamas-controlled sources” and also “most egregiously” omits mention of Hamas’s longstanding policy of embedding itself in civilian areas “in an effort to maximize civilian harm.”

The IDF says the HRW report is “deeply misleading” in portraying the military’s “efforts to minimize civilian harm as tools for forcible displacement.”

“The IDF’s warnings to members of the civilian population to temporarily distance themselves from areas expected to be exposed to intense warfare are made in accordance with the obligation under international law to take feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm by providing advance warnings prior to attacks,” it says. “The IDF only operates in areas in which there is known to be a military presence, and is still at this time working to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure in various parts throughout the Gaza Strip.”