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Israeli defense minister urges probe into rights group inciting soldiers

Xinhua,April 09, 2018 Adjust font size:

JERUSALEM, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday called for an investigation on an Israeli human rights group, which urged soldiers to refuse orders to shoot at Palestinian protesters in Gaza.

Lieberman requested Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to open a probe against the rights group B'Tselem, the minister tweeted.

He said that Mandelblit should "probe the heads of B'Tselem for incitement to disobedience after their call for soldiers to refuse orders in defending the border."

According to Lieberman, B'Tselem is a "subversive" organization, which stands "together with those who hate Israel and the international media who are trying to delegitimize our soldiers, who are acting in a legal and moral manner in a complicated situation."

"We will put an end to this," said Lieberman.

B'Tselem said in a statement that firing at unarmed protesters violates Israel's penal code, adding that "the defense minister is the one who is inciting to break the law."

B'Tselem launched a controversial campaign last week, entitled "Sorry Commander, I cannot shoot" after Israeli army gunfire killed at least 17 Palestinians and injured hundreds more during protests along the fence between the besieged Palestinian enclave and Israel.

On Friday, the protest was renewed and Israeli live fire claimed the lives of additional nine Palestinians.

"Shooting unarmed protestors is illegal, and a command to do so is a grossly illegal command," B'Tselem said.

The rallies are part of a six-week protest, dubbed the "Great March of Return." The protesters demand to acknowledge Palestinian refugees' right of return to their lands before the 1948 war, known also as Israel's Independence War.

The protest will be ongoing when Israel marks its 70th Independence Day later this month and the Palestinians commemorate their Nakba Day, or "Day of Catastrophe" in May.

About 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee during the 1948 war, while hundreds of Palestinian villages were ruined. Enditem

 

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