LONDON, April 19: Amnesty International said on Friday there was evidence Israel’s military operation in Jenin had breached international law and called for an inquiry into human rights abuses against Palestinians.

“There is strong evidence that human rights and international humanitarian law were breached in Jenin by the Israeli defence forces,” Amnesty members visiting the West Bank town said in a statement issued in London.

“Independent and impartial reporting is urgently required as are measures to ensure that desperately needed humanitarian assistance is not obstructed and reaches those in need.”

The British-based human rights group said its representatives had heard accounts in Jenin’s Palestinian refugee camp of houses demolished with people still inside them and reports of illegal executions.

Thirty-five Palestinians were buried on Friday in common graves in an olive grove on the edge of the Jenin camp.

Hospital officials believe the toll could climb into the hundreds as corpses are recovered from the rubble of the camp.

Amnesty said forensic scientist Derrick Pounder had performed autopsies on two bodies, both of which were “cause for suspicion”.

“These facts call out for an urgent independent, international, expert inquiry,” Amnesty added.

Amnesty’s calls follow a chorus of criticism about Israel’s military incursion in the West Bank.

The European Union has called for an international probe into Palestinian charges that Israeli troops massacred hundreds of people in the refugee camp.—Reuters