HRW:

Israel's Use of Lethal Force 'Could Amount to War Crimes'

Rasa - Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced on Wednesday that Israel's use of lethal force against Palestinian protesters along the Gaza Strip border in recent weeks could amount to war crimes.

News ID: 438234

Date: 14 June 2018 - 21:53

RNA - The rights group accused Israel of repeatedly using live ammunition "with apparent lethal intent" against Palestinian demonstrators who posed no imminent threat to life, Middle East News reported.

"Israel's use of lethal force when there was no imminent threat to life has taken a heavy toll in life and limb," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said.

"The international community needs to rip up the old playbook, where Israel conducts investigations that mainly whitewash the conduct of its troops and the US blocks international accountability with its Security Council veto, and instead impose real costs for such blatant disregard for Palestinian lives," she added.

Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave have been staging rallies demanding their right to return to the homes and lands their families were expelled from 70 years ago.

The HRW report came ahead of an emergency UN General Assembly meeting on Wednesday to vote on a resolution condemning Israel's "excessive use of force".

A total of 135 Palestinians were killed and over 14,000 wounded by the Israeli Army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the start of the March of Return rallies in late March, according to the latest statistics by the Ministry of Health.

The Amnesty International has also stressed that the attacks on Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip are “willful killings constituting war crimes", while the UN Human Rights Council has also decided to urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate all alleged violations and abuses which may amount to war crimes in the occupied Gaza Strip.

The violence was condemned by rights groups and most UN Security Council members, with even the US’ closest allies refusing to stand by Washington’s support for Tel Aviv.

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