Hamas rejects claim it beheaded children in Israel attack

Palestinian group Hamas on Wednesday rejected widely spread claims that its militants had beheaded children during their surprise attack on Israel. 

"We categorically affirm the falsehood of the fabricated allegations promoted by some Western media outlets... the latest of which was the claim of killing children, beheading them, and targeting civilians," Hamas spokesperson Izzat al-Risheq said in a statement published on the group's website.

Israel's military and government spokespeople have repeatedly claimed that Hamas fighters had beheaded men, women and children when they attacked the Israeli village of Kfar Azza, which began Saturday.

The Israeli army's claims that Hamas had beheaded men, women and children were carried in news reports by many international media outlets, despite a lack of verification.

The army later said it could not verify these claims.

But that did not stop Tal Heinrich, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from repeating the claims on Wednesday.

An Israeli army spokesman told CNN after Heinrich repeated the claim that again, it had not been verified.

More than 1,400 Palestinians, including over 360 children, have been killed in Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since Saturday, after Hamas fighters launched a barrage of rockets at Israel and infiltrated Israeli territory.

Some 1,200 Israelis died as a result of the attack. Hamas also took approximately 150 Israeli hostages since the start of the operation, including soldiers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused both Hamas and Israel of committing war crimes during the current conflict.

"Palestinian armed group’s apparent deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and taking of civilians as hostages amount to war crimes under international humanitarian law,"  the rights group said earlier this week.

"Israeli authorities’ cutting off electricity to Gaza and other punitive measures against Gaza’s civilian population would amount to unlawful collective punishment, which is a war crime," HRW said.

"The laws of war apply to all parties to a conflict, irrespective of the lawfulness of their going to war or imbalances of power between the parties."