A leading human rights group has accused Israel of committing war crimes during this summer's war in Gaza.

"Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused," said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program.

The criticism came in a report released Wednesday.

The 50-day war killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 72 people on the Israeli side, all but six soldiers.

Israel's Gaza operation came after increased rocket attacks by Gaza's ruling Hamas regime. Israel also arrested scores of Hamas activists in the West Bank, following the abduction and murder of three Israel teens by Hamas militants.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected the report's findings, saying Amnesty "ignores documented war crimes perpetrated by Hamas."