Amnesty tells US to SUSPEND ARMS SALES to Israel.

Detailed evidence has emerged of Israel’s extensive use of US-made weaponry during its war in Gaza last month, including white phosphorus artillery shells, 500lb bombs and Hellfire missiles.

In a report released this week, Amnesty International called on US President Barack ObamaBarack Obama to suspend military aid to Israel, and requested an immediate arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian armed groups.

It also called on the UN to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on the parties to the conflict.

The US is the largest arms supplier to Israel. The US provides $30 billion in military aid to Israel under a 10-year agreement by the Bush administration.

The US “has a particular obligation to stop any supply that contributes to gross violations of the laws of war and of human rights,” Malcolm Smart, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program director, told reporters. “To a large extent, Israel’s military offensive in Gaza was carried out with weapons, munitions and military equipment supplied by the USA and paid for with US taxpayers’ money.”

The human rights group said those arming both sides in the conflict “will have been well aware of a pattern of repeated misuse of weapons by both parties and must therefore take responsibility for the violations perpetrated.”

“Israeli forces used white phosphorus and other US-supplied weapons to carry out serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes,” said Donatella Rovera, who headed the group’s fact-finding mission to southern Israel and Gaza.

The report said both Israel and Hamas were guilty of committing crimes under international law, during Israel’s war in Gaza.

For their part, Palestinian militants in Gaza were arming themselves with “unsophisticated weapons” including rockets made in Russia, Iran and China and bought from “clandestine sources”, it said.

About 1,300 Palestinians were killed and more than 4,000 injured during the three-week conflict.

On the Israeli side 13 were killed, including three civilians. Amnesty said Israel’s armed forces carried out “direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects in Gaza, and attacks, which were disproportionate or indiscriminate”.

Israeli officials criticized the report, saying the military only used weapons that were legal under international law and did not intentionally target civilians. Israel’s foreign ministry said it was “inappropriate” to compare the supply of weapons to Israel and to Hamas.

The Washington-based Anti-Defamation League has blasted Amnesty International as denying Israel the right to defend itself after the human rights organization urged a global freeze on arms sales to Israel.