A UN official said on Monday that conducting an international investigation into the recent Gaza incidents requires a mandate by the UN Security Council.
Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Stéphane Dujarric said in a press conference in New York “The UN has been in contact with various parties of the conflict on this issue.”
“We are not at this point collecting information for an independent investigation because we do not have the mandate to do so” he added.
However as the official explained the UN will continue to monitor the situation and follow the developments in the region.
Dujarric’s statement came in response to journalists’ questions about Israel’s War Minister’s remarks that Israel will not cooperate with any international committee intended to investigate into Gaza incidents.
The UN Secretary General António Guterres called in a statement issued by his office on Friday for conducting an independent and transparent investigation into the incidents.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health during a press conference in Gaza on Monday accused the Israeli occupation army of deliberately shooting at Palestinian civilians to either kill them or cause them disabilities during the Great March of Return in Gaza on Friday.
At least 15 Palestinians were killed and over 1400 injured by Israeli gunfire while taking part in Land Day protests along Gaza’s border fence with the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories on Friday. The number of martyrs later increased to 18.
The bodies of two martyrs identified as Mohammed al-Ribaeyya 21 and Mus’ab al-Saloul 22 who were shot and killed near the border fence east of Juhur ad-Dik village east of Gaza are being detained by the Israeli occupation forces.
Land Day marks 30th March 1976 when six Palestinians were killed in the 1948 occupied Palestine during protests against the Israeli government’s decision to confiscate thousands of dunums of Palestinian land for settlement purposes.
