Israel won’t investigate Gaza border deaths

By Loveday Morris and Hazem Balousha, THE WASHINGTON POST

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Sunday rejected calls for an inquiry into the deaths of at least 15 Palestinians, saying that troops “deserve a commendation” for their response to protests at the Gaza border.

The “March of Return” to mark the anniversary of land appropriation by Israel in 1976 drew tens of thousands of Gaza residents to points along the border fence on Friday. Israel’s use of live ammunition to push them back triggered calls by the United Nations, rights groups and Gaza families for an investigation.

The Israeli military said it adhered to rules of engagement during what it characterized as an attempt by Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, to break through the fence into Israel and endanger its security.

The Palestinian representative to the United States, Husam Zomlot, accused Israel of “indiscriminate murder” and called opening fire on demonstrators “morally repugnant and a crime against humanity.” Lieberman told Israel’s Army Radio that only people who tried to approach the border fence had been shot.

Israel’s military says its rules of engagement are confidential but comply with international law. “Under no circumstances will a commission of inquiry be established,” Lieberman said. Israeli troops pulled out of Gaza in 2005, but the United Nations still considers it occupied territory because Israel has “effective control.”

The movement of goods and people has been severely restricted since Hamas, which Israel and the United States consider a terrorist organization, took over Gaza 11 years ago, with Israel citing security concerns.

Israel has fought three wars with Hamas, and tensions have been building again in recent months, as rocket fire from Gaza became more frequent following the announcement by President Donald Trump that the United States would recognize Israel as Jerusalem’s capital.

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Context added by this archive

The paragraph The Republican did not run is the one worth having: ‘Ghanima said he had tried to plant a flag on the border fence and that soldiers had fired a warning shot but that he had ignored it. He said he’d been demonstrating every day since Friday, wincing as doctors raised his leg to apply extra bandages.’

A named 23-year-old Palestinian describing his own decision, in his own account, in a Quincy, Massachusetts daily. The headline is also the blunter of the two: ‘Israel won’t investigate Gaza border deaths’ names the actor where The Republican’s ‘Defense minister: No inquiry’ does not.

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"Israel won’t investigate Gaza border deaths," The Patriot Ledger, 2 April 2018, p. 21. Covering Palestine archive, CP-2018-044. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2018-044