Gaza border
Israel opens criminal probe of 11 deaths in Gaza violence
A senior official confirmed that 11 incidents in which participants in the ‘March of Return’ were killed by IDF forces during the last year are being investigated by the IDF.
Israeli authorities have opened criminal investigations of the deaths of 11 Palestinians who were killed by Israeli fire during protests along the Gaza border in the past year, a senior Israeli official said Wednesday.
Israeli officials briefed journalists in Geneva to rebut allegations contained in a U.N. human rights report issued last week. The report alleges Israeli soldiers intentionally fired on civilians and could have committed crimes against humanity at the border, where live ammunition killed 189 people dead and injured more than 6,000 in violence that began last March.
Riots on Gaza border
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Incendiary balloons (Photo: Eshkol Telegrass)
Gaza's Hamas rulers have sought to use the demonstrations as a way to press Israel to ease a crippling blockade, imposed after the Islamic militant group seized control of the territory in 2007.
Israel has defended its tactics during the protests, saying it is protecting its sovereign border. It accuses Hamas militants of using the crowds for cover, and notes that demonstrators have launched firebombs, flaming tires and incendiary kites across the border.
But it has come under heavy criticism for the large number of unarmed people who have been shot, often far from the border. The U.N. report said 35 children were among those killed.
PM visiting Gaza region
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the report, which was mandated by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, after its release and accused the 47-member body of "an obsessive hatred of Israel."
Diplomatic efforts could lead to another of the Human Rights Council's many resolutions critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians. The council's current session ends March 22.
Israeli officials are also concerned the one-year anniversary of the upsurge of border protests on March 30 could spark new demonstrations.
