Hamas has condemned an Israeli decision to close a military investigation into an assault on August 1, 2014, in which 135 Palestinians were killed in Rafah, in the southern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a report on Wednesday, the Israeli army cleared itself of wrongdoing and said it would not prosecute commanders who were involved, claiming its investigation found no reason to suspect criminal misconduct.
IDF closes probe into 2014 Gaza war's deadly 'Black Friday'
Three soldiers and dozens of Palestinians were killed in Rafah in August 2014; controversial 'Hannibal Directive' was used to thwart soldier’s abduction https://t.co/eKRAtF1XFY— Johann Spischak (@SDGMasterglass) August 15, 2018
The attack referred to as “Black Friday”, was part of a seven-week assault on Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-imposed siege – aided by neighboring Egypt – since 2007.
Hamas’ spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the investigation had no “legal or political basis”.
On August 15, the IDF closed its probe into its own deadly use of the 'Hannibal Directive' during the 2014 Gaza war. On 'Black Friday', 1 Aug 2014, 3 IDF soldiers were killed, then at least 42 armed Palestinians as well as up to 70 Palestinian civilians. https://t.co/n1f2jjiZmN
— Marian Houk (@Marianhouk) August 16, 2018
Qassem told Al Jazeera:
“How can the offender be the judge of the very assault they committed? This was an attack that the whole world witnessed, and this is an attempt by the Israeli army to escape legal punishment.”
International rights groups such as Amnesty International had said the Israeli army indiscriminately and deliberately targeted civilians during “Black Friday”.
4 years on, Israeli military said this evening it has found no grounds for criminal charges in the 2014 Gaza war “Black Friday”. The kidnapping of an Israeli soldier had led to enforcement of the ‘Hannibal Directive’ and over 100 dead within a few hours: https://t.co/TvbEKYX7bB
— Maayan Lubell (@MaayanLubell) August 15, 2018
The group’s report cited “strong evidence” of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity on August 1, 2014, as Israeli forces bombarded residential areas in Rafah in retaliation for the capture of one of its soldiers.
The report read:
“There is overwhelming evidence that Israeli forces committed disproportionate or otherwise indiscriminate, attacks which killed scores of civilians in their homes, on the streets, and in vehicles and injured many more … This includes repeatedly firing artillery and other imprecise explosive weapons in densely populated civilian areas … In some cases, there are indications that they directly fired at and killed civilians, including people fleeing.”
Justice denied: Three years after #IsraeliForces's deadly 'Hannibal Directive' in #occupied #Gaza Strip https://t.co/Wxj0QznptX
— ISM Palestine (@ISMPalestine) August 2, 2017
Allegations by Amnesty International and other local NGOs including B’tselem led to the launching of a preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
But the ICC was not able to open a fully-fledged war crimes investigation, as one of its criteria is whether a country is capable of investigating itself and prosecuting its own citizens.
Today marks 1 yr since Black Friday, when Israel launched the Hannibal Directive, killing 200 Palestinian civilians https://t.co/Tce42Ta7HP
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) August 1, 2015
The international community must now take action, said Qassem. He said:
“Israel must be tried before the ICC.”
The decision comes days after the United Nations and Egypt secured a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in the hope of achieving a lasting truce following a series of Israeli attacks that killed three Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and her 18-month-old child, in Gaza last week.
According to Qassem, the inability of the international community to hold Israel accountable for the 2014 violence has allowed it to “continue killing Palestinian doctors, medics and civilians” over the past few months, referring to the Great March of Return rallies.
Israeli army invoked Hannibal Directive on Rafah in 2014 war. Dima and Kamal Qadan survived. 82 other kids didn't. pic.twitter.com/zmkZdVYpyM
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) June 28, 2016
The 2014 attack came shortly after a ceasefire agreement was reached. It was quickly broken after Israeli soldiers clashed with Hamas fighters in Rafah.
Two Israeli soldiers and one Palestinian fighter died in the subsequent firefight, and Hamas fighters captured a third soldier, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who Israel later declared dead.
This new Amnesty report exposes the Israeli army’s deadly & destructive 'Hannibal Directive' https://t.co/nHp77tPrK4 pic.twitter.com/VpIE5iV9QE
— kristyan benedict (@KreaseChan) July 29, 2015
Following his capture, the Israeli army responded by implementing the “Hannibal Directive”, a controversial order that allowed soldiers to respond by “unleashing massive firepower on persons, vehicles, and buildings in the vicinity of the attack, despite the risk to civilians”, the Amnesty report had noted.
More than 2,250 Palestinians, including nearly 1,500 civilians, were killed and a further 11,000 were wounded in the July-August 2014 assault, according to Palestinian and UN estimates.
#90days90children – 75 CHILDREN were killed when Israel initiated its Hannibal Directive in an attack on Rafah #gaza https://t.co/WDbT8y2yju
— Denny Cormier (@santafeez) October 7, 2016
At least 18,000 Palestinian homes were completely destroyed, and 73 medical facilities were severely damaged. Most of the destruction resulted from more than 6,000 Israeli air strikes in less than two months on heavily populated areas.
On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians died.
(AJE, PC, Social Media)