Gaza violence merits U.N. investigation

... Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Donald J. Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, triumphantly opened the new U.S. Embassy in Israel’s largest city.

In a chilling backdrop, enraged Palestinians staged sometimes violent protests at the Gaza-Israel border. Those demonstrations were met with lethal force by Israeli authorities. In all, nearly 60 in Gaza were killed and about 2,700 others were injured in Monday’s bloodbath.

The protests were among the largest and latest manifestations of anger by those living in Gaza and the Occupied Territories over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last December to relocate the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. ...

But now that it’s a done deal, it is up to the president and his administration to work with Israeli and Palestinian representatives to first stop the violence.

Israel and the United States can begin by reversing its rejection Friday of a United Nations Human Rights Council investigation into the recent escalation of violence along the Gaza border. Too, both countries should stop blaming the extremist Hamas governing authority for every single act of violence or ill in the region. ...

In the critical days and weeks ahead, it will be imperative that cool heads prevail. Let’s hope that’s not too tall an order for our president and his emissaries to pull off.

Read the full editorial from the Youngstown Vindicator at bit.ly/2rZLTin