• More broadly, the FFM concludes that the incidents recorded in Gaza during this armed conflict are suggestive of several serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law:
• The attacks were characterised by heavy and unpredictable bombardments of civilian neighbourhoods in a manner that failed to discriminate between legitimate targets and protected populations and caused widespread destruction of homes and civilian property. Such indiscriminate attacks, by aircraft, drones, artillery, tanks and gunships, were not the result of decisions made by individual soldiers or commanders; they must have entailed approval from top-level decision-makers in the Israeli military and/or government.
• The initiators of the attacks, despite giving some prior warnings of these attacks, failed to take the requisite precautions that would effectively enable the safe
evacuation of the civilian population, including provision of safe spaces and routes.
• All first-person reports received by the FFM teams emphasized that because of the incessant and unpredictable nature of the attacks, there was no guaranteed safe space in the Gaza Strip, at any time, in any location. When the attacks did occur, the targets included possible escape routes, ambulances attempting to reach the wounded, and individuals attempting to flee.