NEW YORK: Responsibility for the Israeli airstrikes that killed 54 civilians in the Lebanese village of Qana rests squarely with the Israeli military, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday.

It is the latest product of an indiscriminate bombing campaign that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have waged in Lebanon over the past 18 days, the HRW noted.

“Sunday’s strike suggests that the Israeli military is treating southern Lebanon as a free-fire zone,” said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. “The Israeli military seems to consider anyone left in the area a combatant who is fair game for attack.”

The appalling loss of civilian life underscores the need for the UN Secretary-General to establish an international commission of inquiry to investigate serious violations of humanitarian law in the context of the current conflict, Mr Roth said.

“Just because the Israeli military warned the civilians of Qana to leave does not give it carte blanche to blindly attack,” Mr Roth said. “It still must make every possible effort to target only genuine combatants. Through its arguments, the Israeli military is suggesting that Palestinian militant groups might warn all settlers to leave Israeli settlements and then be justified in targeting those who remained.”