Human Rights Watch held on Tuesday senior Israeli officials responsibility for the killings of 14 demonstrators in Gaza and the injuring of hundreds on March 30 2018.
Senior Israeli officials have unlawfully called for use of live ammunition against Palestinian demonstrations who posed no imminent threat to life the rights group said.
The group quoted the IOF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot as announcing that he would deploy 100 snipers to the Gaza border area to block “mass infiltration” or damage to the border fence saying that “The orders are to use a lot of force.”
The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms coupled with the longstanding culture of impunity within the Israeli army for serious abuses the international group charged.
“Israeli soldiers were not merely using excessive force but were apparently acting on orders that all but ensured a bloody military response to the Palestinian demonstrations” said Eric Goldstein deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The result was foreseeable deaths and injuries of demonstrators on the other side of a border who posed no imminent threat to life.”
The killings highlight the importance of the International Criminal Court prosecutor opening a formal investigation into serious international crimes in Palestine Human Rights Watch said.
