Israel refuses to disclose open-fire policy for Gaza

Israeli occupation army has refused to disclose the rule of opening fire at peaceful Palestinian protesters along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday.

The refusal came after a petition filed by a number of Israeli and Palestinian rights groups to the Israeli High Court of Justice requesting clarification of policies regarding demonstrations being held as part of the Great March of Return which was launched on 30 March in Gaza.

Responding to the petition, the Israeli army said that the policy regarding the use of force along the Gaza border is “confidential”.

It insisted, according to Haaretz, that the rules of engagement in this regard could only be disclosed in a closed court session.

Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have repeatedly called on Israel to stop using live ammunition against peaceful Palestinian protesters in Gaza.

READ: Amnesty renews calls for arms embargo against Israel

Some 45 Palestinians have been killed in the past five weeks of demonstrations as part of the Great March or Return, with some 5,511 others injured, including at least 592 children.

The planned six-week protest, which began on 30 March marking Palestinian Land Day, is set to end on 15 May – the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe), in which more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces in 1948.

Palestinians along the Gaza-Israel border reaffirm the ‘Right of Return’ and get shot by IOF – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]