27 dec 2018
Mourners carry the body of a four-year-old Palestinian boy, who died of Israeli-inflicted wounds, during his funeral in Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza Strip, December 12, 2018.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has slammed Israel’s new land grab plans, urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to speed up its investigation into the regime’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, and apartheid against the Palestinian nation.
In a statement released on Wednesday, PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat warned against foot-dragging, expressing hopes that ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda would take the case “seriously.”
“It is of utmost urgency for the International Criminal Court to accelerate the process of investigating Israeli crimes, including its settlement enterprise. Further delays will cost more Palestinians lives, land, resources, and more suffering and despair,” he said.
Back in May, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki urged The Hague-based ICC to “open without delay an investigation into all crimes” committed by the Tel Aviv regime in the West Bank, East Jerusalem al-Quds and the Gaza Strip since June 2014.
He submitted a referral to international prosecutors on the back of an initial preliminary investigation which was launched in 2015.
Erekat’s statement came after Israeli authorities advanced plans for almost 2,200 settler units in the occupied West Bank.
The settlement watchdog Peace Now said that 1,159 units were given final approvals by a committee at the Israeli ministry of military affairs before building permits can be issued, while 1,032 others were at an earlier stage.
Erekat said that Israel had stolen the Christmas spirit from the Palestinian people by new settlement plans.
“While the world is celebrating Christmas with its spirit of peace and joy, the Grinch occupation decided to steal the Christmas spirit from the people of Palestine,” Erekat said in a statement, referring to a character in a Dr. Seuss children’s book who hates Christmas and tries to steal it.
“As part of his early election campaign, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has as well stolen more Palestinian land and resources for the benefit of Israel’s illegal colonial settlement expansion,” Erekat added.
He also urged the international community to “act before it is too late” and "fulfill its responsibilities towards the people of Palestine.”
“Such illegal actions are a deliberate campaign to destroy the two-state solution and to prevent the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he noted.
Emboldened by US President Donald Trump’s all-out support, Israel has in recent months stepped up its settlement construction activities in the occupied lands in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.
About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built illegally since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian lands.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has slammed Israel’s new land grab plans, urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to speed up its investigation into the regime’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, and apartheid against the Palestinian nation.
In a statement released on Wednesday, PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat warned against foot-dragging, expressing hopes that ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda would take the case “seriously.”
“It is of utmost urgency for the International Criminal Court to accelerate the process of investigating Israeli crimes, including its settlement enterprise. Further delays will cost more Palestinians lives, land, resources, and more suffering and despair,” he said.
Back in May, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki urged The Hague-based ICC to “open without delay an investigation into all crimes” committed by the Tel Aviv regime in the West Bank, East Jerusalem al-Quds and the Gaza Strip since June 2014.
He submitted a referral to international prosecutors on the back of an initial preliminary investigation which was launched in 2015.
Erekat’s statement came after Israeli authorities advanced plans for almost 2,200 settler units in the occupied West Bank.
The settlement watchdog Peace Now said that 1,159 units were given final approvals by a committee at the Israeli ministry of military affairs before building permits can be issued, while 1,032 others were at an earlier stage.
Erekat said that Israel had stolen the Christmas spirit from the Palestinian people by new settlement plans.
“While the world is celebrating Christmas with its spirit of peace and joy, the Grinch occupation decided to steal the Christmas spirit from the people of Palestine,” Erekat said in a statement, referring to a character in a Dr. Seuss children’s book who hates Christmas and tries to steal it.
“As part of his early election campaign, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has as well stolen more Palestinian land and resources for the benefit of Israel’s illegal colonial settlement expansion,” Erekat added.
He also urged the international community to “act before it is too late” and "fulfill its responsibilities towards the people of Palestine.”
“Such illegal actions are a deliberate campaign to destroy the two-state solution and to prevent the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he noted.
Emboldened by US President Donald Trump’s all-out support, Israel has in recent months stepped up its settlement construction activities in the occupied lands in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.
About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built illegally since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian lands.
20 dec 2018
Arab member of the Knesset Ahmed Tibi condemned the Israel government’s intent to enact a law through the Knesset that would allow it to exile Palestinian families from their areas and described the intended law as “a war crime.”
In press remarks to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC), MK Tibi said that “such law only comes from war criminals who should be brought to international justice.”
“We have strongly confronted those who introduced this law, and I said that you can kill, expel, burn, steal and uproot, but you cannot defeat an entire people,” the Arab MK said.
“The bill passed a preliminary reading, but in the midst of a racist and fascist atmosphere [at the Knesset], I expect that it will pass all the readings and be approved in the first, second and third readings,” Tibi affirmed.
“However, there is no doubt that the enactment of such law will lead to the exile of many families and will cause serious repercussions,” he added.
He also expressed his belief that Israel would escalate the enactment of racist laws that target the Palestinians and increase settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories with the approach of the early elections in mid-2019.
A bill that would allow Israel to exile families of Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis passed the first reading at the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Wednesday.
In a tumultuous Knesset session, the bill was approved in the first reading by 69-38 votes.
Proposed by Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, the bill would allow Israeli authorities to expel families of Palestinians, who killed or attempted to kill Israelis, from their homes to other areas inside the occupied West Bank.
The Arab Knesset members strongly objected to the bill and this led three of them, including Tibi, to be expelled from the hall.
In press remarks to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC), MK Tibi said that “such law only comes from war criminals who should be brought to international justice.”
“We have strongly confronted those who introduced this law, and I said that you can kill, expel, burn, steal and uproot, but you cannot defeat an entire people,” the Arab MK said.
“The bill passed a preliminary reading, but in the midst of a racist and fascist atmosphere [at the Knesset], I expect that it will pass all the readings and be approved in the first, second and third readings,” Tibi affirmed.
“However, there is no doubt that the enactment of such law will lead to the exile of many families and will cause serious repercussions,” he added.
He also expressed his belief that Israel would escalate the enactment of racist laws that target the Palestinians and increase settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories with the approach of the early elections in mid-2019.
A bill that would allow Israel to exile families of Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis passed the first reading at the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Wednesday.
In a tumultuous Knesset session, the bill was approved in the first reading by 69-38 votes.
Proposed by Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, the bill would allow Israeli authorities to expel families of Palestinians, who killed or attempted to kill Israelis, from their homes to other areas inside the occupied West Bank.
The Arab Knesset members strongly objected to the bill and this led three of them, including Tibi, to be expelled from the hall.
14 dec 2018
Israeli soldiers opened fire, Friday, at a Palestinian ambulance, transporting a patient to a hospital, just as the driver approached an Israeli military roadblock, north of al-Biereh, in central West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has reported that its ambulance was approaching the military roadblock, installed at the entrance of Beitin Palestinian village, north of al-Biereh, while transporting a patient from Deir Dibwan village, to a hospital in Ramallah.
It added that the soldiers instantly opened fire at the ambulance, forcing the medics to turn away and try to find another road.
The Red Crescent said that attack did not lead to any injuries, and strongly denounced this serious Israeli violation of basic human rights, the Geneva Convention and various international resolutions.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has reported that its ambulance was approaching the military roadblock, installed at the entrance of Beitin Palestinian village, north of al-Biereh, while transporting a patient from Deir Dibwan village, to a hospital in Ramallah.
It added that the soldiers instantly opened fire at the ambulance, forcing the medics to turn away and try to find another road.
The Red Crescent said that attack did not lead to any injuries, and strongly denounced this serious Israeli violation of basic human rights, the Geneva Convention and various international resolutions.
11 dec 2018
On the 70th anniversary of UN resolution 194, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) issued a new report entitled "Voices of Return: Documenting Israel's Repression of the Great March of Return."
The new report is based on a PRC submission to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 protests that began on March 30th in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. The series of demonstrations named the “Great March of Return” called on Israel to end the ongoing siege and implement the refugees’ collective right of return to the lands from which they were displaced in 1948.
The demonstrations have been widely covered in the mainstream media, in particular around May 14th, when the Israeli military killed 52 Palestinians and injured over 2,400 in one single day. Yet, beneath the headlines and numbers of casualties, detailed witness accounts of the events remain underreported. PRC’s investigation seeks to fill this gap by bringing to light the voices of Palestinian protesters and victims injured during the demonstrations.
The testimonies and other information gathered in the report show in detail how Israeli soldiers shot unarmed protesters, bystanders, journalists and medical staff approximately 100-400m from the fence, constituting extrajudicial executions and deliberate maiming of civilians. Prima facie evidence and testimonies show that none of the Palestinians victim included in this report were endangering Israeli forces, who remained located on the other side of the fence.
PRC interviewed two journalists who were both shot in their legs while wearing a "press" vest. Khalil was shot in the upper left thigh while standing approximately 200 meters away from the fence and was wounded while taking a "selfie" with friends. Khalil said that the Israeli military shot him from the back as he was not facing the barrier separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.
The other journalist interviewed, Duaa, was hit by a sniper shot as she was filming another protester being treated by paramedics after being injured. Both journalists were hit with a particular type of bullet, which expands and mushrooms inside the body, that indicates the military's intention to cause maximum harm and greater possibility to inflict life-changing injuries.
Amnesty International has reported Israel's use of US-manufactured M24 Remington sniper rifles shooting 7.62mm hunting ammunition, which have the "mushrooming" effects described by the victims we interviewed.
Jihad, a young Palestinian woman in her twenties was standing on Jakar street, a road roughly parallel to the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel, at approximately 100 meters from the barrier when she was first hit with hunting ammunition in her left leg below the knee. Jihad was further hit two times, in her right hand and shoulder, with regular bullets by gunshots seemingly targeting the medical staff that was attending to her.
PRC interviewed a child that lost a leg after being targeted for merely raising the Palestinian flag during one of the demonstrations. Muhannad was also tending to a fellow protester injured at the time he was shot. He was hit with hunting ammunition above the knee in the thigh which caused him to undergo arterial amputation.
"The bullet came in from my ear and out from my head." said Adelmalek, an 18-year old who was shot while standing 300 meters from the fence near the Awda refugee camp, east of Jabalia.
Another young Palestinian, Ouni, was hopeful that the peaceful demonstration will be effective as he explained "We wanted to push for lifting the siege, unblock border crossings . . . we simply wanted to live a normal life!" He was also shot with hunting ammunition that caused bone fragmentation in his leg.
Contrary to claims of Israeli authorities, a grassroots network of activists led the creation and organization of this series of mass demonstrations. The report argues that driving the open-fire policy of the Israeli government against protesters is a longstanding criminalization of Palestinian refugees attempting to cross the armistice lines. Palestinian refugees are criminalized by the Israeli state and media as "infiltrators" and prevented to return to the lands from which they were displaced through a series of state laws and policies.
PRC concluded that the Israeli army's response to Palestinians protesting against a colonial siege along the 1949 armistice line clearly violates a number of core principles of international humanitarian law. The killing and maiming of protesters, journalists, paramedics and children not engaged in any military activity amounts to a violation of the international legal principles of distinction, proportionality and of precautions in attack.
The new report is based on a PRC submission to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 protests that began on March 30th in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. The series of demonstrations named the “Great March of Return” called on Israel to end the ongoing siege and implement the refugees’ collective right of return to the lands from which they were displaced in 1948.
The demonstrations have been widely covered in the mainstream media, in particular around May 14th, when the Israeli military killed 52 Palestinians and injured over 2,400 in one single day. Yet, beneath the headlines and numbers of casualties, detailed witness accounts of the events remain underreported. PRC’s investigation seeks to fill this gap by bringing to light the voices of Palestinian protesters and victims injured during the demonstrations.
The testimonies and other information gathered in the report show in detail how Israeli soldiers shot unarmed protesters, bystanders, journalists and medical staff approximately 100-400m from the fence, constituting extrajudicial executions and deliberate maiming of civilians. Prima facie evidence and testimonies show that none of the Palestinians victim included in this report were endangering Israeli forces, who remained located on the other side of the fence.
PRC interviewed two journalists who were both shot in their legs while wearing a "press" vest. Khalil was shot in the upper left thigh while standing approximately 200 meters away from the fence and was wounded while taking a "selfie" with friends. Khalil said that the Israeli military shot him from the back as he was not facing the barrier separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.
The other journalist interviewed, Duaa, was hit by a sniper shot as she was filming another protester being treated by paramedics after being injured. Both journalists were hit with a particular type of bullet, which expands and mushrooms inside the body, that indicates the military's intention to cause maximum harm and greater possibility to inflict life-changing injuries.
Amnesty International has reported Israel's use of US-manufactured M24 Remington sniper rifles shooting 7.62mm hunting ammunition, which have the "mushrooming" effects described by the victims we interviewed.
Jihad, a young Palestinian woman in her twenties was standing on Jakar street, a road roughly parallel to the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel, at approximately 100 meters from the barrier when she was first hit with hunting ammunition in her left leg below the knee. Jihad was further hit two times, in her right hand and shoulder, with regular bullets by gunshots seemingly targeting the medical staff that was attending to her.
PRC interviewed a child that lost a leg after being targeted for merely raising the Palestinian flag during one of the demonstrations. Muhannad was also tending to a fellow protester injured at the time he was shot. He was hit with hunting ammunition above the knee in the thigh which caused him to undergo arterial amputation.
"The bullet came in from my ear and out from my head." said Adelmalek, an 18-year old who was shot while standing 300 meters from the fence near the Awda refugee camp, east of Jabalia.
Another young Palestinian, Ouni, was hopeful that the peaceful demonstration will be effective as he explained "We wanted to push for lifting the siege, unblock border crossings . . . we simply wanted to live a normal life!" He was also shot with hunting ammunition that caused bone fragmentation in his leg.
Contrary to claims of Israeli authorities, a grassroots network of activists led the creation and organization of this series of mass demonstrations. The report argues that driving the open-fire policy of the Israeli government against protesters is a longstanding criminalization of Palestinian refugees attempting to cross the armistice lines. Palestinian refugees are criminalized by the Israeli state and media as "infiltrators" and prevented to return to the lands from which they were displaced through a series of state laws and policies.
PRC concluded that the Israeli army's response to Palestinians protesting against a colonial siege along the 1949 armistice line clearly violates a number of core principles of international humanitarian law. The killing and maiming of protesters, journalists, paramedics and children not engaged in any military activity amounts to a violation of the international legal principles of distinction, proportionality and of precautions in attack.
(photo: Palestinians search through the rubble of their destroyed homes hit by Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza Strip in August 2014. UN Photo/Shareef Sarhan)
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel has submitted a report on the lack of Israeli domestic accountability mechanisms to UN Independent Commission of Inquiry examining 2018 protests in the Gaza Strip.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced, late Wednesday, that significant progress has been made on the preliminary examination into Israeli military actions in the 2014 war and 2018 protests in the Gaza Strip.
In a report just submitted to the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (COI), Adalah highlighted Israel’s inaction and persistent unwillingness to conduct genuine investigations into grave incidents of suspected war crimes against unarmed Palestinian civilians in both 2014 and 2018.
In its 25-page report filed on 21 November 2018, Adalah concludes that Israel’s persistent unwillingness to conduct genuine investigations or to initiate prosecutions relating to the 2014 Gaza war stresses the need for international intervention to provide remedies and accountability for Palestinian victims of the 2018 protests.
CLICK HERE to read the report [English PDF]
The report analyzes key recommendations and other findings made by three Israeli domestic bodies, the Turkel Commission (2013), the Ciechanover Team (2015), and the State Comptroller’s Office (2018). These bodies have consecutively reviewed and produced findings about the state’s investigatory mechanisms, and all of them identified multiple grave flaws within that system. Although the reports’ recommendations fell short of the requirements of international law, they nevertheless remain unimplemented by the Israeli government.
Adalah’s report follows an initial report to the COI concerning the legal work undertaken by Adalah and Al Mezan from 30 March until the end of May 2018. Adalah’s representatives subsequently met with the members of the commission and investigators to discuss Adalah’s findings and conclusions regarding the lack of Israeli domestic accountability mechanisms for Palestinians in Gaza.
WHAT’S IN ADALAH’S REPORT?
Adalah’s report reviews Israel’s failed policies, practices and investigatory mechanisms in relation to the actions of its military in the 2014 war. According to official UN reports, Israeli troops killed 2,251 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom were civilians, including 299 women and 551 children, and destroyed 18,000 homes and other civilian property, including hospitals and vital infrastructure.
Adalah believes that information on the 2014 war is crucial to the COI in fulfilling its mandate relating to the 2018 protests “to make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations and abuses, and on protecting civilians against any further assaults.”
The lack of a sound and functional domestic investigatory system in Israel upholds the culture of impunity that permeates all echelons of Israel’s military and civilian apparatus that determines policy and conduct towards Gaza.
Adalah and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights filed complaints into 28 cases of suspected international humanitarian law violations – including war crimes – committed by the Israeli military in 2014. To date, only three investigations have been opened; of these, two have since been closed and one remains pending. Adalah received no response in five cases; 13 cases were closed without the opening of an investigation, and six are allegedly still under examination. All of these cases involve the killings of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and extensive damage and destruction to civilian property and infrastructure. No indictments have been issued in any of the cases.
WHAT ARE ADALAH’S CONCLUSIONS?
Opinion/Analysis 12/03/18 Information War between Palestinian Resistance and Israel Heats Up after Botched Raid
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel has submitted a report on the lack of Israeli domestic accountability mechanisms to UN Independent Commission of Inquiry examining 2018 protests in the Gaza Strip.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced, late Wednesday, that significant progress has been made on the preliminary examination into Israeli military actions in the 2014 war and 2018 protests in the Gaza Strip.
In a report just submitted to the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (COI), Adalah highlighted Israel’s inaction and persistent unwillingness to conduct genuine investigations into grave incidents of suspected war crimes against unarmed Palestinian civilians in both 2014 and 2018.
In its 25-page report filed on 21 November 2018, Adalah concludes that Israel’s persistent unwillingness to conduct genuine investigations or to initiate prosecutions relating to the 2014 Gaza war stresses the need for international intervention to provide remedies and accountability for Palestinian victims of the 2018 protests.
CLICK HERE to read the report [English PDF]
The report analyzes key recommendations and other findings made by three Israeli domestic bodies, the Turkel Commission (2013), the Ciechanover Team (2015), and the State Comptroller’s Office (2018). These bodies have consecutively reviewed and produced findings about the state’s investigatory mechanisms, and all of them identified multiple grave flaws within that system. Although the reports’ recommendations fell short of the requirements of international law, they nevertheless remain unimplemented by the Israeli government.
Adalah’s report follows an initial report to the COI concerning the legal work undertaken by Adalah and Al Mezan from 30 March until the end of May 2018. Adalah’s representatives subsequently met with the members of the commission and investigators to discuss Adalah’s findings and conclusions regarding the lack of Israeli domestic accountability mechanisms for Palestinians in Gaza.
WHAT’S IN ADALAH’S REPORT?
Adalah’s report reviews Israel’s failed policies, practices and investigatory mechanisms in relation to the actions of its military in the 2014 war. According to official UN reports, Israeli troops killed 2,251 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom were civilians, including 299 women and 551 children, and destroyed 18,000 homes and other civilian property, including hospitals and vital infrastructure.
Adalah believes that information on the 2014 war is crucial to the COI in fulfilling its mandate relating to the 2018 protests “to make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations and abuses, and on protecting civilians against any further assaults.”
The lack of a sound and functional domestic investigatory system in Israel upholds the culture of impunity that permeates all echelons of Israel’s military and civilian apparatus that determines policy and conduct towards Gaza.
Adalah and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights filed complaints into 28 cases of suspected international humanitarian law violations – including war crimes – committed by the Israeli military in 2014. To date, only three investigations have been opened; of these, two have since been closed and one remains pending. Adalah received no response in five cases; 13 cases were closed without the opening of an investigation, and six are allegedly still under examination. All of these cases involve the killings of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and extensive damage and destruction to civilian property and infrastructure. No indictments have been issued in any of the cases.
WHAT ARE ADALAH’S CONCLUSIONS?
- Israel’s system of investigating suspected international law violations by its military is unfit for purpose and falls far short of compliance with international standards of independence, impartiality, effectiveness, promptness and transparency;
- The chronic failings of its investigatory system allows illegal conduct by Israeli military personnel to continue with a wide margin of impunity;
- For six years, Israeli domestic bodies have issued reports and recommendations for improvements to the investigatory system, all of which have both fallen short of the requirements international law, and remain ink on paper, in what appears to be an empty exercise designed to present a facade of action and good intentions;
- According to Israeli official data, over 91% of the “exceptional incidents” received by Israel’s Military Advocate General involving alleged IHL violations in Gaza in 2014 have not been investigated, and no commander or soldier was prosecuted for grave violations of IHL;
- Thus, Article 17 of the Rome Statute may give authority to the ICC to open investigations into these matters, in fulfillment of the principle of complementarity.
- The ongoing situation of inaction at the domestic level and the demonstrated, persistent unwillingness of Israel to conduct genuine investigations or to initiate prosecutions create a pressing need for international actors to step in to provide remedies and accountability for Palestinian victims of the 2018 protests.
Opinion/Analysis 12/03/18 Information War between Palestinian Resistance and Israel Heats Up after Botched Raid
10 dec 2018
Chairman for the Defense Committee of the Israeli Parliament of the Knesset, Avi Dichter, recently made an underhanded remark expressing favor for killing all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
As he was commenting on the protests of the Great March of Return, taking place along the eastern fence of the Gaza Strip, he said: “The Israeli army has enough bullets for every Palestinian.”
Dichter is a senior member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling right-wing Likud Party.
A former director of Shin Bet internal security service and Minister of Internal Security, Dichter said that the Israeli army is prepared to use all means, including lethal force to deter the Palestinians protesters.
Since March 31, thousands of peaceful Palestinian protesters have been staging protests along the eastern fence of the Gaza Strip, calling for lifting the 12-year-old Israeli siege and reinforcing the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan repeatedly referred to the protesters killed in Gaza as “Nazis,” saying that there were no demonstrations, just “Nazi anger.”
He later added, according to Days of Palestine: “The number [of peaceful Palestinian protesters] killed does not mean anything because they are just Nazis, anyhow.”
As he was commenting on the protests of the Great March of Return, taking place along the eastern fence of the Gaza Strip, he said: “The Israeli army has enough bullets for every Palestinian.”
Dichter is a senior member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling right-wing Likud Party.
A former director of Shin Bet internal security service and Minister of Internal Security, Dichter said that the Israeli army is prepared to use all means, including lethal force to deter the Palestinians protesters.
Since March 31, thousands of peaceful Palestinian protesters have been staging protests along the eastern fence of the Gaza Strip, calling for lifting the 12-year-old Israeli siege and reinforcing the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan repeatedly referred to the protesters killed in Gaza as “Nazis,” saying that there were no demonstrations, just “Nazi anger.”
He later added, according to Days of Palestine: “The number [of peaceful Palestinian protesters] killed does not mean anything because they are just Nazis, anyhow.”
