A US-based rights group has accused Israel of ignoring evidence and conducting an incomplete investigation into the deaths of eight Palestinian civilians, demanding an international inquiry.

"The Israel Defence Forces' (IDF) investigation of the Gaza beach explosion that killed eight Palestinian civilians and wounded dozens is incomplete because it excludes important evidence," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

Palestinian Authority prime minister Ismail Haniyeh (C), holds Houda Ghalia, 10, during a visit to her family house 14 June. The 10-year-old girl was one of the only members of her family to survive a Gaza beach explosion 10 June. A US-based rights group has accused Israel of ignoring evidence and conducting an incomplete investigation into the deaths of eight Palestinian civilians, demanding an international inquiry. (AFP/File)

The New York-based group released the statement Tuesday after meeting Meir Klifi, the general responsible for the army's internal inquiry into the June 9 beach deaths.

"An investigation that refuses to look at contradictory evidence can hardly be considered credible," said Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst at HRW. "The IDF's partisan approach highlights the need for an independent, international investigation."

An Israeli army inquiry has cleared the military of any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rejected calls for an international investigation.

Human Rights Watch said the army's conclusion that it was not responsible for the deaths was based "exclusively" on information gathered by the IDF and excluded all evidence gathered by other sources.

The group, which unlike the army conducted its own investigation at the scene of the deaths, believes that the blast was caused by an Israeli shell fired several hours earlier and which later exploded.

HRW maintained that during its meeting with Klifi, the army agreed it was "possible that unexploded ordnance from a 155mm artillery shell fired earlier in the day could have caused the fatal injuries".

The group said the army fired "more than 80 such shells in the area of the beach" on the morning of June 9.

Sand could increase the possibility of a fuse malfunction, and afternoon Israeli shelling could have triggered a dud shell, as could human traffic on the beach, HRW said.

Copyright © 2006 AFP

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