Israeli army opens probe into killing of Gaza medic
Netanyahu says mediation can help prevent Gaza collapse: Report
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s army said on Tuesday it has opened a military police investigation into the killing of a Palestinian medical volunteer along the Gaza border in June.
Razan Al Najjar, 21, was fatally shot on June 1 near the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis during protests and clashes along the border.
The Palestinian Medical Relief Society said at the time she was hit “as she was attempting to provide irst aid to an injured protester”, adding that three other irst responders were also hit by live ire on the same day.
Israel’s army said in the days after her death that its troops did not deliberately shoot her, but the incident was further reviewed by the military advocate general.
“A military police investigation has been opened regarding the death of the volunteer medic Razan Al Najjar,” the army said in Tuesday’s statement, noting the probe was ordered following the advocate general’s review.
At least 218 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli ire in the months of demonstrations and clashes. One Israeli soldier has been killed along the border since the protests began on March 30.
Israel says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop iniltrations and attacks, which it accuses Hamas that runs the Gaza Strip, of seeking to orchestrate.
Palestinians and rights groups say protesters have been shot while posing little threat.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he welcomes mediation from the United Nations and Egypt to prevent a humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
Netanyahu made the comments in a brieing to local journalists on Monday, various Israeli newspapers reported.
Egypt and UN oficials have been seeking a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.
Security sources in Gaza said a 13-member Egyptian delegation was in the strip on Tuesday to meet with Hamas oficials, the latest in a series of such visits.
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded 25 including two medics on Monday during protests along the Gaza Strip’s beachfront border with Israel, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Witnesses said dozens of protesters in the north of the blockaded enclave burned tyres and threw stones at Israeli soldiers stationed behind Israel’s frontier fence and that troops ired live bullets and tear gas. The Gaza Health Ministry said a 27-year-old Palestinian man was killed by the Israeli gunire. The Israeli military, estimating the crowd at around 3,000 people, said explosive devices were also thrown at troops deployed on the Israeli side of the fence along the beach.
The soldiers, a military spokesman said, responded with “riot dispersal means and live ire”.
Gaza medics have tallied 217 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during almost seven months of protests that have included brief breaches of the border fence and the launching of incendiary balloons that have torched ields in southern Israel.
Later, the Israeli army’s judicial branch said it would open a military investigation into the killing of a Palestinian nurse during one of the Friday protests in June. The Military Advocate General decided to act after studying the indings of an initial inquiry, a statement said..
Palestinians say they are protesting against Israel’s blockade of the territory and in support of a right for Palestinian refugees to return to land lost during Israel’s founding in 1948.