"Israeli forces repeatedly breached the laws of war, including by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian militants that caused a disproportionate toll among civilians," it said.

Some 300 children were among the dead and around 5,000 people were wounded in Israel's three-week bombardment of the coastal enclave, according to the 2009 report titled: The State of the World's Human Rights.

Israeli organisation NGO Monitor criticised the report, saying Amnesty had ignored violations by the Palestinian Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip.