A major new report from the international human rights organisation reconstructs the circumstances around three specific attacks during Israel’s “pre-emptive” military offensive on Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The 20-page report concludes that, of the 49 Palestinians killed in the fighting, 33 – including 17 civilians – were killed by Israeli forces. Of the remaining 16, Amnesty concludes that 14 were civilians and at least seven were killed by rockets launched by Palestinian armed groups.

The examination of the two Israeli attacks challenges Israeli authorities’ characterisation of the operation as “precise”, with victims including a four-year-old boy, a teenager visiting his mother’s grave, and a 22-year-old student at home with her family.

Amnesty secretary general Agnès Callamard said: “Israel’s latest offensive on Gaza lasted only three days, but that was ample time to unleash fresh trauma and destruction on the besieged population.

“The three deadly attacks we examined must be investigated as war crimes — all victims of unlawful attacks and their families deserve justice and reparations.

“The violations we documented were perpetrated in the context of Israel’s ongoing illegal blockade on Gaza, a key tool of its apartheid regime.

“Palestinians in Gaza are dominated, oppressed and segregated, trapped in a 15-year nightmare where recurrent unlawful attacks punctuate a worsening humanitarian crisis.

“As well as investigating war crimes committed in Gaza, the ICC should consider the crime against humanity of apartheid within its current investigation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”