"War crimes" and "crimes against humanity". The accusations levelled by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations against the state of Israel are extremely serious. And they echo those already put forward for years by numerous international non-governmental organisations, which have pointed the finger at the Jewish nation's response to the demonstrations organised by the Palestinian people during 2018.

The military accused of firing on civilians

The protest movement had been organised to mark 15 May, the date on which the Nakba falls: the "catastrophe", for Palestine. That is, the forced and permanent expulsion of thousands of citizens at the time of the creation of the state of Israel.

israele ambasciata stati uniti — The violent clashes on the border between Palestine and Israel on the day of the inauguration of the American embassy in Jerusalem, in May 2018 © Mohammed Abed/Afp/Getty Images

Even at the time, the soldiers deployed to defend the Jewish border had been accused of firing into the crowd, causing dozens and dozens of casualties and thousands of injuries. A thirty-year-old journalist from a Palestinian news agency also lost his life as a result of shots fired by snipers. On that occasion, the organisation Reporters Without Borders had spoken of "media workers deliberately targeted".

CJ Werleman ✓ @cjwerleman

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UN report suggests Israel is carrying out war crimes in Gaza, including the deliberate targeting of children, medics, and journalists.

via In The Now.

758 40 4 mar 2019 · Apri su X →

The accusations against Tel Aviv were confirmed by an ad hoc commission created by the United Nations to investigate the matter. It collected 325 direct testimonies to establish the facts. The report was made public on Thursday 28 February and condemns above all "the use of live ammunition" against civilian demonstrators, who "did not at that time represent a direct threat to the soldiers and were not participating in hostilities".

The United Nations: "Israel's use of live ammunition was illegal"

The use of such ammunition was also deemed "illegal". "From our point of view," the United Nations committee states, "the demonstrations were civilian in nature. The political objectives had been made clear. And, despite some significant instances of violence, they did not constitute a military campaign."

Amnesty International USA ✓ @amnestyusa

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A UN Human Rights Council report has found that during protests in Gaza last year the Israeli army deliberately shot at children, journalists and people with disabilities, demonstrating a cruel and ruthless disregard for international humanitarian law: amnestyusa.org/press-releases…

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The Israeli soldiers, in other words, would have fired without reason. For its part, the government of the Jewish state spoke of "hypocrisy" and denied all responsibility, continuing to maintain that there was a clear risk of the border being breached by Palestinians.

Likewise, the Israeli army explained that what was carried out was a necessary form of pre-emptive suppression. Which, according to the United Nations, caused a total of 189 confirmed civilian deaths, including 35 minors, two of whom were aged between 11 and 13. A further 39 journalists were injured. Two nurses were killed and 40 were injured. The total number of people struck by bullets was more than six thousand.

Israel, the United Nations accuses the military of crimes against humanity