Ex-Israel defence minister: International investigations help ‘terrorists’

Former Israeli defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon has claimed that an international investigation into the killings of Palestinian protesters in the occupied Gaza Strip would only help “terrorists”.

There have been widespread calls for an independent investigation into the massacre of Monday, including from Israeli allies such as Germany and the UK.

Speaking to the Jerusalem Post yesterday, however, former minister Ya’alon said that “international investigations play into the hands of terrorists”.

“We don’t send our soldiers into Gaza, Hamas has to be blamed for sending their people to the fence,” he added. “The international community has to blame them.”

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“We don’t want to kill any Palestinians, and the IDF commanders in the field know that any death on the other side doesn’t serve our interests.”

According to Ya’alon: “We are not talking about demonstrations. We are talking about Hamas using these demonstrations for terrorism, to send their Nakba forces to fire at troops and try to kidnap soldiers.”