B'Tselem dismisses Israel's investigation into Gaza killings as propaganda

Israel’s Information Centre for Human Rights (B’Tselem) has dismissed the army’s announcement that it was opening an investigation into the killing of peaceful Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip.

The rights group said in a statement on Friday that the announcement made by the IDF’s investigative apparatus, headed by Brigadier- General Moti Baruch, “was for propaganda purposes only, including the attempt to prevent an international independent investigation.”

It added that the announced investigation was consistent with the approach of the Israeli military prosecution to blur the facts and give a false impression about the effectiveness of the Israeli law enforcement service.

The Centre pointed out that the Israeli army had used deadly force against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “in a blatant violation of international law, and killed many people.”

B’Tselem said the army’s instructions to shoot unarmed demonstrators in the Gaza Strip are illegal and that “the Israeli authorities’ reliance upon extreme scenarios to justify these instructions, such as the passage of thousands of Palestinians through the border fence, is not enough to allow the lethal fire on demonstrators.”