BICOM

The IDF has begun investigating dozens of cases in which Palestinian civilians were killed during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

Haaretz reports that interim findings have already been reached in around 15 cases with investigations into dozens of other incidents already underway. Apparently, the deadly incidents at United Nations facilities in Gaza are among those being investigated.

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has appointed a permanent General Staff committee, headed by Maj. Gen. Noam Tibon to head up the investigations. Apparently, the probes will take into account lessons learnt from previous military operations in Gaza and the recommendations of the Turkel Committee which investigated the IDF’s actions regarding the Mavi Marmara flotilla in 2010. Tibon’s committee is comprised of General Staff officers who were not directly involved in the fighting or the chain of command during Operation Protective Edge. Six teams are apparently investigating the incidents, each one including legal experts and working in full coordination with the military advocate-general.

At the same time, Israel’s State Comptroller Yosef Shapira announced yesterday that he is launching an investigation into how the political and military echelons handled Operation Protective Edge. Shapira’s office said that it will investigate claims that IDF activities are not monitored closely enough for their compliance with international law. Shapira will also look at other issues, including the performance of the Home Front command and the handling of the threat of Hamas’s complex network of tunnels from which it launched numerous attacks on Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel’s government has indicated that it will not comply with the commission of inquiry appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) earlier this week. The panel is to be headed by Prof. William Schabas, a Canadian international law expert who is considered an outspoken critic of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed incredulity yesterday that “the UN decided to come and investigate Israel – the only democracy in the Middle East,” rather than Hamas, Syria or the fate of Iraq’s Kurds.