BICOM

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have appointed Brig. Gen. Moti Baruch, a former division commander and head of the army’s Training and Doctrine Division, to lead an investigation into IDF conduct over the past two weeks along the Gaza border.

At the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) the US blocked another attempt by Kuwait to pass a resolution supporting the Palestinian right to demonstrate and establishing an independent commission of inquiry. Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, said that the lack of action “has given Israel a green light to continue the massacre of a civilian population.”

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, noted “grave concern [over the] violence and deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip”. She also “reminded all parties that the situation in Palestine is under preliminary examination by my Office. While a preliminary examination is not an investigation, any new alleged crime committed in the context of the situation in Palestine may be subjected to my Office’s scrutiny”.

Jason Greenblatt, the Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations said: “The United States strongly urges protest leaders to communicate loudly and clearly that protestors should march peacefully; should abstain from all forms of violence; should remain outside the 500-meter buffer zone; and should not approach the border fence in any way or any location. We condemn leaders and protestors who call for violence or who send protestors – including children – to the fence, knowing that they may be injured or killed. Instead, we call for a renewed focus by all parties on finding solutions to the dire humanitarian challenges facing Gazans.”

A senior IDF official said: “We have no intention of turning the clashes on the border with the Gaza Strip into a weekly occurrence. Should the incidents continue, we will intensify our retaliation against Hamas not only in the area of the fence, but also against its targets deep in the Gaza Strip.”

Mahmoud Al-Habbash, a senior advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas criticised Hamas for intentionally sending Palestinians in Gaza to “go and die,” for the sole purpose that Hamas will have stories of dead Palestinians to tell the media.

According to pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat an Egyptian delegation will soon visit the Gaza Strip to meet Hamas leaders and discuss the crisis and internal Palestinian reconciliation. Egyptian Intelligence Director General Abbas Kamel will visit the Gaza Strip in order to “defuse the volatile situation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on the one hand, and between Hamas and Israel on the other”. Reports also suggest that Saudi Arabia and Egypt have offered to permanently open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt in exchange for calling off future protests.