Israel dismisses criticism
GAZA CITY Palestinians resumed their fiery protests at Gaza’s border with Israel yesterday as a United Nations human rights body criticised Israel for the ‘‘disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force’’ that killed at least 59 Palestinians earlier this week.
Israel condemned the resolution by the UN Human Rights Council as biased.
Yesterday’s Gaza protests – the eighth in as many weeks – drew Israeli gunfire and tear gas, with at least 23 people wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Egypt, meanwhile, said it had opened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in an apparent effort to ease the crisis in the impoverished, densely populated territory.
Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza and is organising the protests, says they are meant in large part to break the blockade on Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt, and to pressure Israel to ease its restrictions. Since they began on March 30, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2500 wounded by live fire, according to the health ministry.
Palestinian officials say most of the casualties have been unarmed protesters. One Israeli soldier has been wounded.
Yesterday’s protests began later than in recent weeks and drew a smaller turnout, apparently due to the Ramadan fast. Most of the participants gathered in tent camps a safe distance from the border, but dozens still got close to the fence.
Earlier in the day, several injured Gaza residents with Jordanian citizenship, along with their relatives, were taken to Jordan for medical treatment at the request of the king of Jordan, the Israeli military said.
In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council voted to set up a commission of inquiry to look into the Israeli actions. Meeting in a special session, the council voted 29-2 with 14 abstentions to back a resolution that also condemned ‘‘the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians’’.
The ‘‘independent, international commission of inquiry’’ mandated by the council will be asked to produce a final report in March 2019.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad alHussein backed calls for an international inquiry and questioned Israel’s assertion that its security forces had tried to minimise casualties.
Some demonstrators have thrown firebombs, used slingshots, flown burning kites into Israel to set crop fields AP ablaze, and tried to use wire cutters on the border fences, but ‘‘these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force’’, said Zeid, a Jordanian prince.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the resolution, which was put forward by countries including Pakistan, as ‘‘nothing new’’.
‘‘Israel will continue to defend its citizens and soldiers, as it has the right to defend itself,’’ he said.
In an apparent attempt to ease the crisis, Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi announced the opening of the Rafah crossing for what would be the longest uninterrupted period since 2013. He wrote on his official Twitter account that it would ‘‘alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip’’.
Egypt and Israel have imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, heavily restricting movement in and out. Over the years, Egypt has opened the crossing for a few days every two to three months – the only way for most Gazans to reach the outside world.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the opening was the result of talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials. But he added that the weekly Hamas-led protests would continue.
The crossing has been open since May 12, so Sissi’s announcement was technically an extension.
Egyptian authorities said that over 500 people had passed into Gaza along with dozens of trucks carrying cement, steel, engines, and medical and food aid from the Red Crescent.
Last month, Hamas’s Interior Ministry said more than 20,000 people were on waiting lists to exit.
An average of 500 travellers a day have moved through the border this week, mostly leaving.
The Rafah crossing has only been open sporadically since the 2013 ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, a high-ranking member of Hamas’s parent group the Muslim Brotherhood. AP