Israel committing crimes against humanity in Gaza: UN

The UN has slammed Israel's reaction to the mostly nonviolent Great Return March protests in Gaza, saying the army is responsible for crimes against humanity in the besieged enclave.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

28 February, 2019

Israel is responsible for 'crimes against humanity' in Gaza [Getty]

Israel has evidently committed crimes against humanity in its response to the mostly nonviolent Great Return March protests in the besieged Gaza Strip, the United Nations has said.

There is evidence that Israel committed crimes against humanity in responding to 2018 protests in Gaza, as snipers targeted people clearly identifiable as children, health workers and journalists, a UN probe said on Thursday.

"Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity," the chair of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Santiago Canton, said in a statement.

Palestinians have for nearly a year gathered at least weekly along the Gaza border fence for often non-violent marches to demand an end to the Israeli siege on Gaza and the right for Palestinians to return to their homes lost since Israel's creation in 1948.

Most Palestinian refugees were forcibly displaced then, an event the Palestinians mark as the Nakba or the Catastrophe.

At least 248 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since then, the majority shot during clashes, though others have been hit by tank fire or airstrikes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Follow us on Twitter: @The_NewArab