Israel reportedly blanked out inquiries into "Great March of Return" protests

Palestinian protesters burn an Israeli flag during the third Friday of the “Great March of Return” at the Gaza-Israel border, April 13, 2018. REUTERS / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

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The Hebrew state would have whitewashed the truth and protected political and military leaders instead of condemning them for their conduct during the demonstrations of the "Great March of Return" in 2018. This is what denounced this Thursday, December 2, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza and Israeli NGO B'Tselem in a new report.

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With our correspondent in Ramallah,

Alice Froussard

It was every Friday for a year and a half. Thousands of Palestinians, men, women, young people, older people, families. All have been

demonstrating

since 2018. During the Great March of Return, 223 Palestinians were killed, 8,000 others injured. Israel saw these gatherings " 

as a security threat 

."

For Raji Sourani, executive director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza, “ 

they didn't want to allow these protests.

So they were deploying the army and snipers all around the Gaza Strip.

And these shooters, criminals, saw the faces, the signs "press" or "medical personnel".

They knew, but they were shooting at children, young people, old people, to kill or to paralyze, to amputate any part of their body.

Not a single Israeli soldier was killed during the year and a half of the Great March of Return, proving that these gatherings posed no security threat. 

"

► To read also: Great march back: one year later, a heavy human toll

Israel does not want to be held to account

While Israel says it researched these crimes, the investigation was conducted by the military and focused on the actions of lower-ranking soldiers, not on orders to fire live ammunition.

A lack of will, a whitewashing of reality, believes Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B'Tselem: “

 Israel is betting on a decrease in media attention and citizens, hoping that they will not need accountable.

And when it takes a long time, that's what happens.

 "

Hagai El-Ad makes it clear: human rights organizations remember this, help document these crimes so that Israel is held to account.

According to international law, if a state has already investigated its own crimes, the ICC cannot intervene.

Yet, according to the joint NGO report, Israeli research is insufficient and biased.

►

Read the full report

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  • Israel

  • Palestinian territories

  • Human rights