Palestinians want UN probe
NEW YORK The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations is challenging Israel to agree to an independent commission to investigate events in Gaza and determine ‘‘who are the criminals, who are violating international law and to hold them responsible for these crimes’’, after further deaths and injuries during protests at the Israeli-Gaza border yesterday.
Riyad Mansour demanded to know why Israel would not accept an independent and transparent investigation, as UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres has called for.
He said the Palestinians were exploring ideas, including at the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court, to ‘‘stop this massacre and serve justice and to hold accountability’’.
‘‘We will not leave a stone unturned,’’ Mansour told reporters at UN headquarters in New York yesterday. ‘‘Those cowards who are hiding behind the hills and armed to the teeth . . . with high-velocity rifles to use them as snipers against civilians – shame on them.
‘‘If they are really a moral force, they would not conduct themselves in this matter. They would allow people to demonstrate peacefully without threatening their lives.’’
Hundreds of Palestinians converged on the Gaza Strip’s border fence with Israel east of Gaza City yesterday, trying to burn and rip through it before drawing heavy Israeli fire in one of the most violent incidents yet in five weeks of protests. Three Palestinians were killed and more than 600 wounded, including 138 hit by live fire.
The Israeli military accused Gaza’s Hamas leaders of orchestrating what it called a ‘‘serious and irregular’’ attack, and said it would not tolerate similar activity in the future.
The military said the protesters approached the fence and threw grenades, explosives, firebombs and rocks as they tried to set the fence on fire. It said troops opened fire ‘‘in accordance with the rules of engagement’’ and halted the crowd.
In other incidents, Palestinian crowds rolled burning tyres, hurled rocks and flew kites with flaming objects attached, with the goal of damaging the fence and other Israeli targets.
Gaza’s Islamist militant rulers have called for a mass rally at the border every Friday as part of a weeks-long campaign of protests against a decade-old blockade of the territory.
Israel is closely guarding the fence and has warned that it will not tolerate attempts to breach it.
It has said troops are under orders to target ‘‘instigators’’, but AP has also warned that anyone approaching or trying to damage the fence risks his or her life.
Israel says Hamas is using the protests as cover for attacks on the border and Israeli soldiers, including snipers taking cover behind sand berms, have responded by firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and live rounds.
At least 38 protesters have been killed and more than 1600 wounded since March 30.
In yesterday’s unrest, a large crowd tried to break through the fence with hooks and wire cutters before Israeli forces opened fire. Witnesses said three protesters briefly crossed into Israel and hundreds of protesters ran to the scene before Israeli armoured vehicles fired barrages of tear gas.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus claimed Hamas leaders had encouraged the crowd and said the event was unlike anything Israel has seen over the past month because of the ‘‘audacity with which they attacked’’.
The violence came shortly after a top UN official urged Israel to refrain from using excessive force against the protesters.
Organisers say the marches are also pressing for the ‘‘right of return’’ of refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel. Two-thirds of Gaza residents are descendants of refugees who fled or were expelled from properties during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948. The protests are due to culminate on May 15, the anniversary of Israel’s creation.
Hamas said yesterday that Israeli aircraft attacked and badly damaged two boats at Gaza’s port. The boats were being prepared to sail beyond a six-nautical-mile limit set by Israel in protest at the maritime restrictions on Gaza, a Hamas activist said.
Hamas protest organisers have made conflicting statements about whether they plan a mass border breach at some point.
The group’s supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, visited a protest camp in the southern town of Rafah, vowing larger protests in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel and among Palestinian refugees in other countries on May 15. ‘‘Our people will not slow down the protests until they get their rights,’’ he said.
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said Israeli troops had not heeded warnings by the UN and others, repeatedly using lethal force against unarmed protesters during the past month. Gaza health officials say four minors, including a 14-year-old boy, have been among the dead.
‘‘The loss of life is deplorable, and the staggering number of injuries caused by live ammunition only confirms the sense that excessive force has been used against demonstrators – not once, not twice, but repeatedly,’’ Zeid said.
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said Israel was ‘‘diligently defending its sovereignty’’, and accused Zeid of ‘‘obsessively criticising Israel’’. AP
‘ Those cowards who are hiding behind the hills and armed to the teeth . . . shame on them.’ RIYAD MANSOUR