UN panel says Israelis should face justice for Gaza killings
Army snipers and commanders believed to be responsible for 189 deaths
Geneva — UN investigators said Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in killing 189 Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 at weekly protests in Gaza last year. The independent panel said it had confidential information about those it believes to be responsible for the killings, including Israeli army snipers and commanders, and called on Israel to prosecute them. “The Israeli security forces killed and maimed Palestinian demonstrators who did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to others when they were shot, nor were they directly participating in hostilities,” it said. In a scathing response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel rejected the report “out of hand” and accused the UN Human Rights Council of hypocrisy and lies fuelled by “an obsessive hatred for Israel”. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the findings confirmed “what we have always said — that Israel conducts war crimes against our people...
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