London-based human rights group Amnesty International issued an official statement on Thursday, in which it accuses militant Shiite group Hezbollah guerillas of performing a series of war crimes during the war in Lebanon, deliberately killing civilians, especially Israeli citizens.

According to reports presented by the organization, which are based on independent research performed by the group in Israel and Lebanon, including interviews with victims, official declarations and discussions with government officials in Israel and Lebanon, Hezbollah fired approximately 4,000 rockets into the northern part of Israel, killing 43 people, severely injuring 33 and forcing thousands others to flee their homes and take refuge someplace else.

The reports highlighted the fact that more than a quarter of the rockets fired at Israel, targeted heavily-populated urban areas, which is why the organization believes that such attacks were intentional. The only reason why death tolls were not higher was because people took refuge in shelters and bunkers.

Irene Khan, the secretary general of the organization, underlined: "The scale of Hezbollah's attacks on Israeli cities, towns and villages, the indiscriminate nature of the weapons used and statements from the leadership confirming their intent to target civilians make it all too clear that Hezbollah violated the laws of war. The fact that Israel has also committed serious violations in no way justifies violations by Hezbollah. Civilians must not be made to pay the price for unlawful conduct on either side".

In addition to this, Amnesty International's claims are also based upon Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and other important figures' statements regarding the fact that the targeting of civilians in Israel was a form of retaliation against Israeli heavy airstrikes: "In the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, the suffering of civilians on both sides has been repeatedly ignored with those responsible escaping all accountability. Justice is urgently needed if respect for the rules of war is ever to be taken seriously - and that means accountability for the perpetrators of war crimes and reparations for the victims".