[JURIST] "Indiscriminate airstrikes" by Israel [JURIST news archive] were responsible for the majority of civilian casualties during the summer 2006 Lebanon conflict [JURIST news archive], according to a 249-page report [text, press release] issued Thursday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. HRW investigated about 500 of the reported 900 civilian deaths. Its report specifically refutes Israeli assertions that civilian casualties were due to Hezbollah [party website, in Arabic; CFR backgrounder] forces using human shields. HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth said that Israel did not abide by its legal duty to distinguish between military and civilian targets and issued insufficient evacuation warnings. AP has more.

Last month in another report [text; press release], HRW condemned Hezbollah [JURIST report] for recklessly and sometimes intentionally firing rockets at Israeli civilian targets during the brief struggle, which essentially ended in a standoff.