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Amnesty Calls for Arms Embargo of Israel and Hamas


Amnesty International has called for an arms embargo against Israel and Palestinian militants because of alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza conflict.

The London-based group accused Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas of using weapons supplied from overseas to carry out attacks on civilians.

Amnesty called on the United Nations Security Council to impose an arms embargo until mechanisms are put into place to ensure military equipment is not used to commit violations of international law.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Amnesty's work was fundamentally flawed and tainted by data provided by Hamas.

Amnesty said Israel carried out attacks that resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties. Its report also said Palestinians committed war crimes by firing rockets into Israel from Gaza.

Amnesty said U.S.-made weapons were widely used by Israel during its three-week offensive in Gaza. Amnesty called on President Obama to suspend U.S. military aid to Israel.

Israel has maintained all the weapons it used in Gaza were used in accordance with international law.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.


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