Israel combative in face of calls for Gaza inquiry
JERUSALEM — Israel’s defence minister on Sunday rejected international calls for an investigation into deadly violence along Gaza’s border with Israel, saying troops acted appropriately and fired only at Palestinian protesters who posed a threat.
Fifteen Palestinians were killed and more than 700 were wounded in Friday’s violence near the Israeli border, according to Palestinian health officials. It was the area’s deadliest violence since a war four years ago.
Human rights groups have accused the army of using excessive force and both the UN secretary-general and the European Union’s foreign policy chief have urged an investigation.
In an interview, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would not co-operate with a UN inquiry if there were one.
“From the standpoint of the Israeli soldiers, they did what had to be done,” Lieberman told Israeli Army Radio. “I think that all of our troops deserve a commendation and there won’t be any inquiry.”
On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “terrorist” after the Netanyahu rejected Ankara’s “moral lessons” over deadly clashes in Gaza.
“Hey, Netanyahu! You are an occupier. And it is as an occupier that you are on those lands,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in Adana, Turkey.
However, Netanyahu rejected Turkish criticism, likening it to an April Fool’s joke.
“The most moral army in the world will not be lectured to on morality from someone who for years has been bombing civilians indiscriminately,” he wrote on Twitter. “Apparently this is how they mark April 1 in Ankara.”
Friday’s mass marches were largely led by Gaza’s ruling Hamas group and touted as the launch of a six-week-long protest campaign against a stifling decade-old blockade of the territory. Israel and Egypt have maintained the blockade since Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction, seized control of Gaza in 2007.
In Friday’s confrontations, large crowds gathered near the fence with smaller groups of protesters rushing forward, throwing stones and burning tires.
Israeli troops responded with live fire and rubber-coated steel pellets, while drones dropped tear gas from above. Soldiers with rifles were perched on high earthen embankments overlooking the scene.
Protests have continued since Friday, but at a far smaller scale. On Sunday, one person was seriously wounded by gunfire, Palestinian medical officials said.
The military has said it responded only to violent attacks aimed at troops and the border fence. But video from the scene showed at least a handful of incidents in which people appear to have been shot either far from the border or while they were not actively rioting.
The Israeli military accused Hamas of releasing videos that were either incomplete, edited or “completely fabricated.” It said troops had followed strict rules of engagement and that protesters were putting themselves in “harm’s way” by operating in a dangerous area.
In the interview, Lieberman said those who protested peacefully were not harmed, saying claims that peaceful protesters were harmed were “lies and inventions.”
“Whoever didn’t get close to the fence was not shot,” he said.
Tamar Zandberg, leader of the opposition party Meretz, posted a video over the weekend calling for an independent inquiry into Friday’s violence.
“I’m worried about the fate of all of us and the fate of the residents of the Gaza periphery communities, who could be sitting in bomb shelters today, tomorrow or next week,” she told Army Radio, “so I’m calling to stop this now.”
The Israeli military has said those killed by troops were men who were involved in violence and who belonged to Hamas and other militant factions. The army later released the names and ages of 10 of the dead, including what it said were eight members of Hamas and two from other militant groups.
Israel has also accused Gaza health officials of exaggerating the number of wounded.