Human Rights Watch, an international nongovernmental organization (NGO), condemned Israel's use of lethal force against Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip over the past two months on Wednesday. The statement from the rights group came ahead of an emergency United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting on the issue later in the day.
“The international community needs to rip up the old playbook, where israel conducts investigations that mainly whitewash the conduct of its troops and the US blocks international accountability with its Security Council veto,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch's Middle East director, said in the statement.
“The [UNGA] should support a resolution that calls for exploring measures to guarantee the protection of Palestinians in Gaza, and a UN inquiry mandated to investigate all violations and abuses should identify Israeli officials responsible for issuing unlawful open-fire orders,” the statement said, calling for the International Criminal Court to also get involved.
The UNGA meeting on Wednesday follows a similar meeting on a vote over a resolution to condemn Israel's use of force, often deadly force, against Palestinian demonstrators protesting for the right of return to their homeland. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley vetoed that resolution, proposed by Kuwait, on June 1, and proposed her own resolution in response but was unable to garner any backers.
In light of the US veto, representatives…
