The IDF's destruction of four high-rises in Gaza in the final days of a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas amount to war crimes that must be investigated, Amnesty International said on Monday. Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program said the buildings were destroyed on purpose and had no military justification.

Speaking at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York on 6 November, Martin Dempsey, chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised the Israeli army for going to "extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties" during its summertime operation against Gaza. Dempsey lionized as "extraordinary" Israel's use of leaflets and "roof-knocking" to "[make] it known that they were going to destroy a particular structure." But as Gaza residents noted, the leaflets were meaningless given that no structure was safe from Israel s merciless bombing campaign, which targeted everything from hospitals and water wells to UN designated shelters overflowing with civilians who followed Israel s instructions to leave their homes.

Amnesty International published a report early Wednesday accusing Israel of war crimes in its 50-day war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip this summer, saying its military showed "callous indifference" to civilians in airstrikes on homes that felled entire families.

During the recent War on Gaza, a disproportionate number of civilians - many of them children - were killed in attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces. But there is another casualty of war which has received surprisingly little international attention. Since the bombing raids began, 17 journalists have been killed in Gaza, prompting calls for war crimes charges to be brought against the State of Israel and those involved in carrying out this war.

The cease-fire announced Tuesday between Israel and Palestinian factions - if it holds - will end seven weeks of fighting that killed more than 2,200 Gazans and 69 Israelis. But as the rival camps seek to put their spin on the outcome, one assessment of Israel's Gaza operation that won t be publicized is the U.S. military s. Though the Pentagon shies from publicly expressing judgments that might fall afoul of a decidedly pro-Israel Congress, senior U.S. military sources speaking on condition of anonymity offered scathing assessments of Israeli tactics, particularly in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.

NBC is facing questions over its decision to pull veteran news correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin out of Gaza just after he personally witnessed the Israeli military s killing of four Palestinian boys on a Gaza beach. Mohyeldin was kicking a soccer ball around with the boys just minutes before they died. He is a longtime reporter in the region. In his coverage, he reports on the Gaza conflict in the context of the Israeli occupation, sparking criticism from some supporters of the Israeli offensive.