Amnesty International has renewed its call to impose an arms embargo on Israel, following recurring clashes between the IDF and protesters in the Gaza strip.



As a reason for the demand, the London-based non-governmental human rights organization named the “killing and wounding of civilians demonstrating in Gaza by the Israeli forces, despite the fact that they don’t pose any immediate threat.”

Malicious tactics are being employed by the Israeli military who are deliberately using weapons of war to cause life-changing injuries to Palestinian protesters. Why are weapons still being sold to #Israel? pic.twitter.com/kvfvCCKSfo — AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) April 27, 2018

Palestinians have been gathering at the Gaza border for several weeks with the objective of storming the security fence in order to mark what they claim to be the return to their original homeland. Last Friday’s events marked the fifth week of the protests, dubbed the “Great March of Return.”Amnesty International’s statement over the weekend claimed that during the protests, Israel has carried out “intentional” and “murderous” attacks against Gazan civilians, including shooting protesters in the back.“For four weeks the world has watched in horror as Israeli snipers and other soldiers, armed with full protective gear and behind the border fence, attack Palestinian demonstrators with live ammunition and tear gas,” Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director Magdalene Mugrabi said. “Despite international condemnation, the Israeli army has not retracted its illegal orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators.“The nature of the reported injuries attests to the fact that Israeli soldiers are using weapons intended to cause maximum harm.“...These incidents appear to be deliberate attempts to kill or at least injure the protesters in a way that causes disability. This is a serious violation of the Geneva Convention and a war crime,” Mugrabi emphasized.In response to these acts, the world must impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, Amnesty International demanded.“The time has come to stop symbolic condemnation. The international community must act decisively and stop the delivery of arms and military equipment to Israel,” Mugrabi stated. “The failure to do so will add fuel the most serious human rights violations against thousands of men, women and children living under the cruel siege imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip.”In addition, Mugrabi called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation in Gaza. “Unless Israel ensures an effective and independent investigation leading to criminal charges against those responsible, the ICC must open an official investigation into these killings and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.”Amnesty International is known for speaking out against Israel and frequently and extensively critiques the country for alleged violations of human rights.This February, the organization published its annual report, which stated that Israel was killing and torturing Palestinian children, committing unlawful killings, subjecting the approximately two million inhabitants of the Gaza strip to collective punishment and using excessive force.In July 2017, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon called to remove tax breaks for Amnesty International’s Israeli donors in light of the organization’s campaigning against Israeli policies.Likud MK Miki Zohar then said that “unfortunately, Amnesty defines itself as a human rights organization but behaves in the opposite way. The organization constantly persecutes IDF soldiers and defames them. The organization supports draft dodgers and infiltrators and acts with all its might against Israel. And despite this, its tax benefit as a non-profit organization is renewed, because of the argument that these are legal actions.”After a heated debate between the coalition and the opposition, Amnesty’s tax break was only renewed for a year, as opposed to the usual three years.Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.

var cont = `Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>



`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> “Israel is carrying out a murderous assault against protesting Palestinians, with its armed forces killing and maiming demonstrators who pose no imminent threat to them,” Amnesty International said on Friday as thousands of Palestinians taking part in Great March of Return rallies in Gaza faced Israeli bullets for the fifth week.

Over those weeks, Amnesty stated, “the Israeli military has killed 35 Palestinians and injured more than 5,500 others – some with what appear to be deliberately inflicted life-changing injuries.”

“In most of the fatal cases analyzed by Amnesty International victims were shot in the upper body, including the head and the chest, some from behind,” the group stated.

“Eyewitness testimonies, video and photographic evidence suggest that many were deliberately killed or injured while posing no immediate threat to the Israeli soldiers.”

In video at the top of this page, Amnesty states that Israel is carrying out these crimes using weapons,including the American-mde Remington M24 sniper rifle, which is sold in the United States “as a hunting rifle to kill deer.”

The video also highlights the case of Muhammad Khalil Obeid, a Palestinian footballer whose promising career was ended when an Israeli sniper shot him in both knees.

Amnesty also pointed to the evidence provided by doctors and medical personnel “that many of the serious injuries they have witnessed are to the lower limbs, including the knees, which are typical of war wounds that they have not observed since the 2014 Gaza conflict.”

The charities Medical Aid for Palestinians and Médecins Sans Frontières have also extensively documented “horrific injuries” likely to leave hundreds of people with permanent disabilities.

Amnesty is renewing its calls for “governments worldwide to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel.”

“The time for symbolic statements of condemnation is now over. The international community must act concretely and stop the delivery of arms and military equipment to Israel,” the group stated. “A failure to do so will continue to fuel serious human rights abuses against thousands of men, women and children suffering the consequences of life under Israel’s cruel blockade.”

That blockade is so tight that even members of the US Congress are not being allowed into the territory. This week, Representative Mark Pocan publicly called on Israel to let members of Congress into Gaza so they could see how US humanitarian aid is being used.

Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned Israeli leaders that they could face trial for violence against civilians in Gaza.

Amnesty appears to be urging the court to move on that warning.

“Unless Israel ensures effective and independent investigations resulting in criminal prosecutions of those responsible, the International Criminal Court must open a formal investigation into these killings and serious injuries as possible war crimes and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice,” Amnesty added.

Amnesty now appears to be taking a stronger position than it has in recent weeks when it urged Israel merely to avoid “excessive force” against Palestinians.

But human rights defenders have long dismissed investigations undertaken by Israel’s military as nothing more than whitewashing mechanisms that only serve to bolster impunity and deter investigation by the ICC.

This point was emphasized by the UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Friday.

“Israel’s failure to consistently prosecute violations committed by members of its security forces, encourages them to use deadly force against their fellow unarmed human beings, even when they present no threat,” Zeid stated.

The UN human rights chief pointed out that “serious investigations only seem to take place when video evidence has been gathered independently.”

“For the many more alleged killings of unarmed civilians by Israeli security forces that take place off camera, there seems to be little or no effort to apply the rule of law,” he added.

However that is an overly generous assessment. Even in high-profile cases where there has been ample video evidence, Israel’s system has only reinforced impunity by handing down lenient sentences to soldiers who carried out cold-blooded killings.

And there have been many cases of killings or injuries captured on video which have not resulted in any serious investigation.

It is also illogical to call on Israel to investigate killings and injuries as crimes or violations within its own system, when soldiers are being directly ordered to kill and injure unarmed protesters.

While the UN human rights chief at least recognizes that Israel has consistently failed to hold killers of Palestinians accountable, the European Union has decided to continue pretending that Israel is ready, willing and able to do so.

On Thursday the EU put out a statement that uncritically “takes note of the Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism established by the Israel Defence Forces to review its own actions.”

The EU also continues to promote Israel’s propaganda used to justify killing unarmed protesters that there have been “violent attacks against Israel under the guise of the protests.”

Not a single Israeli has been reported injured as a result of the protests in Gaza and Israel has failed to date to present evidence of such attacks.

The EU, again echoing frequent Israeli government talking points, demanded that Palestinians “avoid any incitement to violence.”

However, the EU said nothing about the actual incitement coming from Israel.

In an example of the government propaganda used to justify the deliberate killing of civilians including children, Israeli government spokesperson Ofir Gendelman tweeted a video he claimed showed “a little Palestinian girl that recites what Hamas terrorists told her before they sent her today as a human shield to tear down the Gaza border with Israel.”

Subtitles in the video clip claim the young woman says, “We are are not afraid of them, we want to kill them.”

However speakers of Palestinian Arabic, including this writer, were able to hear clearly that the girl said no such thing, despite how the audio sounds as if it has been doctored.

In fact, the girl says, “We are not afraid of them, We want to enter [cross the boundary] to them.”

One of the main demands of the Great March of Return is that Palestinians be allowed to exercise their internationally recognized right to return to lands from which they and their families were expelled and from which Israel excludes them solely because they are not Jews. </s> Palestinians participating on Gaza’s non-violent Great March of Return have called for an arms embargo against Israel. This has been backed by the Amnesty International statement; Israel: Arms embargo needed as military unlawfully kills and maims Gaza protesters.

The United Nations has imposed arms embargoes within the sanctions regimes of:
• None Sudan for ‘Those who impede the peace process, constitute a threat to stability in Darfur and the region, commit violations of international humanitarian or human rights law or other atrocities”
• None Congo for “Engaging in or providing support for acts that undermine the peace, stability or security of the DRC” such as “planning, directing, or committing acts in the DRC that constitute human rights violations or abuses or violations of international humanitarian law, as applicable, including those acts involving the targeting of civilians, including killing and maiming, rape and other sexual violence, abduction, forced displacement, and attacks on schools and hospitals’
• None Libya for “Individuals and entities involved in or complicit in ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Libya, including by being involved in or complicit in planning, commanding, ordering or conducting attacks, in violation of international law, including aerial bombardments, on civilian populations and facilities’ UN Sanctions

All the above criteria for sanctions (and more) apply to the Jewish state’s military occupation and control of Palestinian lives over the past 70 years and apply to its blatant belligerence during the past month against Gaza’s unarmed protesters that has culminated, to date, in 46 martyrs and over 6000 injuries that began with the Good Friday massacre.

The killings and maiming are indisputable evidence of the violation of International Law and International Humanitarian Law ( IHL) which prohibits under Rule 70 ,

100 Jewish snipers were ordered to shoot unarmed civilians with semi-jacket bullets which are variously called dumdum, hollow-point, expanding bullet, explosive, soft-point, soft-nosed, that inflict horrific Grade 3 wounds as on contact, the bullet splays out talons massive internal tissue damage,

These high velocity bullets ‘are prohibited under a number of treaties’ for causing ‘superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering’.

That the Jewish state uses Gaza to field test new weapons has been well documented and today in Gaza doctors have also remarked on a new tear gas, not gray but green in colour, that causes severe spasms and ‘cramps, vomiting and stress, severe cough and a faster heartbeat…Because the gas is unknown and the health complaints are also unknown, the use of this gas is very dangerous and one does not know what more damage the gas can cause to the body.’ Khamakar Press

Of course testing weapons on civilians is a war crime and yet Israeli armament companies boast that their weaponry is field-tested which boosts sales to morally shoddy western governments. This impunity and complicity can come to a halt with campaigns focusing on the S in BDS- Boycott Divestment and SANCTIONS.

Speaking of sanctions, take the UK for example; it was hot to screech for sanctions against Russia after the magically non-lethal unproven ‘nerve agent’ attack in Salisbury but has not condemned the ongoing real massacre of unarmed protesters in Gaza and has, furthermore sold to Israel, according to Middle East Eye, $445 million of arms, including spare parts for sniper rifles’ since Israel’s 2014-war-crimes-war on Gazan families despite the UK having ratified the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on 2nd April 2014.

Article 6 of the ATT provides a solid legal structure and obligations for arms embargoes,

Article 6: 3. A State Party shall not authorize any transfer of conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1) or of items covered under Article 3 or Article 4, if it has knowledge at the time of authorization that the arms or items would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes as defined by international agreements to which it is a Party.

94 countries have ratified the ATT. We can demand that our governments honour their obligations and end arms trade with Israel and lobby our governments to support a UN arms embargo. It is the least we can do.

ATT campaigns will erase any sense of bystander helplessness in the face of the Jewish state’s slaughter and maiming of brave young Gazans who are simply demanding their Right of Return under international law.

Dr. Vacy Vlazna is Coordinator of Justice for Palestine Matters and editor of a volume of Palestinian poetry, I remember my name. She was Human Rights Advisor to the GAM team in the second round of the Acheh peace talks, Helsinki, February 2005 then withdrew on principle. Vacy was convenor of Australia East Timor Association and coordinator of the East Timor Justice Lobby as well as serving in East Timor with UNAMET and UNTAET from 1999-2001. </s> Palestinian protesters collapse after being fired upon with tear gas by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel. Picture: Adel Hana/AP

For years many of the political elite in South Africa viewed human rights organisations like Amnesty International with suspicion. The refrain was often the same - “double standards”. It was often felt that Amnesty International and other rights watch dogs would cherry pick the issues they highlighted, but when it came to the Palestinians or Western Sahara they were less than robust, to put it diplomatically. That is what gave rise to the perception that these organisations mirrored the agendas of the West and capitulated to pressure from lobby groups and foreign governments.

But in recent years the tide has been turning and these organisations have become far more vocal than in the past about human rights violations in the occupied territories. What was astounding this week was the press release put out by Amnesty International, renewing its call on governments worldwide to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel after the country’s disproportionate response to mass demonstrations along the fence that separates the Gaza strip from Israel. The call went even further, saying that if Israel doesn’t prosecute those responsible for human rights violations, the International Criminal Court should open a formal investigation into possible war crimes.

The people of Gaza have endured three wars over the past 11 years, as well as the illegal Israeli blockade that has decimated their economy and turned the Gaza strip into the world’s largest open-air prison. But, finally, the world’s human rights activists are sitting up and taking note.

The official Israeli position is that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the blockade only keeps out dangerous dual-use materials that could conceivably be used to make rockets and end up in the hands of Hamas. But, in reality, according to the UN, the long list of items that are prohibited from entering Gaza include crayons, soccer balls, stationery, musical instruments, wheelchairs and dry food items such as chocolate and potato chips.

The water in Gaza is practically undrinkable, but for months the blockade prevented water filters from entering Gaza, which posed a serious threat to public health. Despite the fact that the blockade contravenes article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits collective penalties, the US has been completely silent on the blockade and continued to provide Israel US$4 billion in aid annually.

Did it take a Gandhian-style rolling protest in Gaza at the border fence that was met with injuries exacted on thousands of civilians over the past month to wake up the passive and impartial in the context of this intractable conflict?

The Israeli military has killed an estimated 35 Palestinians and injured more than 5500 others since March 30th - some with what Amnesty International says appear to be deliberately-inflicted life-changing injuries. Despite wide international condemnation, the Israeli army has not reversed its illegal orders to shoot unarmed protesters.

The organisers of the “Great March of Return” have repeatedly stated that the protests are intended to be peaceful, and they have largely involved sit-ins, concerts, sports games, speeches and other peaceful activities.

While some Palestinian protesters did approach the fence, throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and others burning tyres, evidence gathered by Amnesty International, Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups show that Israeli soldiers shot unarmed protesters, bystanders, journalists and medical staff approximately 150-400m from the fence, where they did not pose any threat.

Perhaps even more disturbing than the heavy-handed response of the Israeli Defence Force is the type of ammunition used against civilians, and the pattern of injuries. In most of the fatal cases analysed by Amnesty International, victims were shot in the upper body, including the head and the chest - some from behind. In addition, doctors at the European and Shifa hospitals in Gaza City reported that many of the serious injuries they have witnessed are to the lower limbs, including the knees, which are typical of war wounds that they have not observed since the 2014 Gaza conflict.

According to Amnesty International, the nature of these injuries suggests that Israeli soldiers are using high-velocity military weapons designed to cause maximum harm to Palestinian protesters. According to a recent statement by Doctors Without Borders, half of the more than 500 patients admitted to its clinics were treated for injuries “where the bullet has literally destroyed tissue after having pulverised the bone”. Many youths have been hit with an explosive type of ammunition known as “the butterfly”.

The Israeli Defence Forces spokesman has explicitly said that “nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed”. This can only mean that the thousands of injuries to civilians in the head, chest, back, and knees were intentional.

To raise genuine concern about these developments is to insist that human rights are indivisible. It is by no means anti-Semitic or anti-Israel, but a rallying call that all nations adhere to international human rights conventions equally. </s> After five weekends of bloody clashes on the Gaza border, Israel’s high court on Monday considered a number of petitions filed by human rights groups aimed at forcing the army to reconsider its use of live fire to quell the protests.

A total of 44 protesters have been killed and thousands wounded, many by live fire, in the March of Return protests, which are expected to peak in mid-May, when the Palestinians mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, which they regard as the Nakba, or catastrophe, and the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem.

One of the judges said no other court in the world would address the question of rules of engagement during a conflict but no decision was taken on Monday and the court will reconvene before the judges make their decision.

The petitions, filed by six human rights groups, demanded that the court revoke the army’s rules of engagement that authorise soldiers to use live fire on demonstrators along the Gaza border who are not endangering human lives.

The groups taking the case included the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Yesh Din, Gisha and Hamoked: Centre for the Defence of the Individual.

The petitioners claimed demonstrations in Gaza were not prohibited and that if incidents turned violent or there were attempts to breach the border, these were civil disturbances and therefore it was legally permissible to open fire only when there was an immediate danger to human life.

The petitioners further claimed that even if the area was considered a combat zone due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the demonstrations themselves were not part of the fighting and the rules of war did not apply to them.

The state claimed that the security forces’ rules of engagement along the border corresponded with Israeli and international law, arguing that the legal basis for the petitions was “faulty and deficient”.

“The petitioners have drawn incorrect legal conclusions, first and foremost regarding the classification of the events as ostensibly ‘quintessentially civil incidents’. A proper reality check shows that these are events that compose part of the armed conflict between the Hamas terror organisation and Israel, with all that this entails,” it said.

Amnesty International has called for an arms embargo against Israel, which it accused of carrying out a “murderous assault” on Palestinians participating in the protests.

“For four weeks the world has watched in horror as Israeli snipers and other soldiers, armed with full protective gear and behind the border fence, attack Palestinian demonstrators with live ammunition and tear gas,” Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director Magdalena Mughrabi said. “Despite international condemnation, the Israeli army has not retracted its illegal orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators.”

A senior Israeli officer told the Ha’aretz newspaper that most of the army’s killings of Palestinians during the Gaza-border protests resulted from snipers aiming at demonstrators’ legs, with the killings an unintentional outcome after a protester bent down, a sniper missed or a bullet ricocheted. </s> Jeremy Corbyn has blasted the mainstream media for covering up Israel’s genocide of Palestinians living on the Gaza border.

In a message read out at a protest outside Downing Street, the Labour leader demanded that Prime Minister Theresa May support the UN’s call for an independent inquiry into the slaughter of 27 innocent Palestinians – who were shot to death by Israeli troops.

Independent.co.uk reports: Britain should also consider stopping the sale of arms to Israel that “could be used in violation of international law”, he said.

Mr Corbyn spoke out after at least nine more Palestinians were killed, and hundreds more injured, by Israeli gunfire, some reportedly shot in the head or upper body.

The latest deaths came a week after 18 Palestinians lost their lives when Israeli soldiers opened fire at similar demonstrations in support of a “right to return” to land lost to Israel in 1948.

The UN human rights spokeswoman, Elizabeth Throssell, has suggested the shootings could amount to wilful killing of civilians – a breach of the fourth Geneva Convention.

In his message, Mr Corbyn said: “The killing and wounding of yet more unarmed Palestinian protesters yesterday by Israeli forces in Gaza is an outrage.

“The majority of the people of the Gaza Strip are stateless refugees, subject to a decade-long blockade and the denial of basic human and political rights.

“More than two thirds are reliant on humanitarian assistance, with limited access to the most basic amenities, such as water and electricity.

“They have a right to protest against their appalling conditions and the continuing blockade and occupation of Palestinian land, and in support of their right to return to their homes and their right to self-determination.”

Mr Corbyn added that “firing live ammunition into crowds of unarmed civilians is illegal and inhumane and cannot be tolerated”.

“The silence from international powers with the responsibility of bringing a just settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict must end,” he added.

“The UK Government must support the UN secretary-general’s call for an independent international inquiry into the killing of protesters in Gaza and review the sale of arms that could be used in violation of international law.”

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has said nothing since the first killings on 30 March, although his deputy, Alistair Burt, issued a statement saying he was “appalled by the deaths and injuries”. Mr Burt said: “There is an urgent need to establish the facts, including why such a volume of live fire was used and what role Hamas played in the violence.”

Israel came under pressure after a video showed a protester being shot in the back by an Israeli soldier as he walked away from the fence separating Gaza from Israel.

In other footage, Palestinians were shown being killed or wounded as they prayed, walked empty-handed towards the border fence, or simply held up a Palestinian flag.

According to reports in the Israeli media, the Israel Defence Forces’ rules of engagement allow live fire to be used against anyone who approaches the fence.

Justifying its response, the Israeli military said: “Several attempts have been made to damage and cross the security fence under the cover of the smokescreen created by the burning tyres that the rioters ignited.” </s> DUBAI, March 23 (Reuters) - Amnesty International on Friday denounced Western arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its allies in a coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen, saying such traffic made a "mockery" of a global arms trade treaty.

The rights group accused both the Saudi-led coalition forces and the Iran-allied Houthis of committing potential war crimes in the three-year conflict.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since March 2015 when Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim Arab states launched a military campaign against the Houthis, a group of Shi'ite fighters who had seized the capital and forced President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi to flee.

"There is extensive evidence that irresponsible arms flows to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have resulted in enormous harm to Yemeni civilians," Lynn Maalouf, Director of Research for the Middle East at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

"But this has not deterred the USA, the UK and other states, including France, Spain and Italy, from continuing transfers of billions of dollars' worth of such arms. As well as devastating civilian lives, this makes a mockery of the global Arms Trade Treaty."

The organisation said it had documented 36 coalition air strikes since 2015 that appeared to have violated international law, adding that some may amount to war crimes. The documented attacks had killed 513 civilians, including at least 157 children, and wounded 379 others, according to Amnesty.

It said the Houthis and their allies had conducted arbitrary arrests and detentions of opponents, and that scores of men and women had been subjected to enforced disappearances and harsh sentences following unfair trails.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes and say their campaign is directed against Houthi fighters, and not civilians. The Houthi movement has also denied accusations of war crimes.

Amnesty said that as the conflict enters its fourth year it shows no real signs of abating and that all sides were impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid to at least 22.2 million people in need of assistance and more than one million suffering from suspected cases of cholera.

The rights group said that despite the loosening of a blockade on Yemeni ports imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, it continues to impose restrictions on aid and commercial imports of essential goods.

Two rights groups in France said on Friday they would take legal action against the French government unless it halts sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia and its ally the United Arab Emirates within two months.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the Yemen conflict with President Donald Trump this week during a visit to the United States.

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told Prince Mohammed on Thursday that there was an urgent need to end the war. (Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi Editing by Ghaida Ghantous and Peter Graff) </s> The Israeli army's killing of more than a dozen Palestinians who were demonstrating along the Gaza Strip's eastern border on Friday was unlawful and calculated, according to a new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.

"The Israeli government presented no evidence that rock-throwing and other violence by some demonstrators seriously threatened Israeli soldiers across the border fence," the report, released on Tuesday, said.

Pointing out that senior Israeli officials had "unlawfully" called for the use of live ammunition before and after the protests, HRW said: "the high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms."

{articleGUID}

On Friday, the Israeli army killed 17 Palestinians in mass demonstrations calling for the right of return for Palestinian refugees to the homes and villages by from which they were driven out by Zionist armed groups in 1948. At least 1,500 others were wounded, while one Palestinian succumbed to his wounds on Monday.

The death toll is expected to rise owing to the high number of injuries and the lack of medical supplies in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade for more than a decade.

Prior to the demonstrations, the Israeli army announced it had deployed more than 100 snipers with permission to fire.

Palestinian rights group Adalah said the Israeli army on Saturday "accidentally" took responsibility for the attacks on Palestinian protesters, before deleting a post from their official Twitter page.

"Yesterday we saw 30,000 people; we arrived prepared and with precise reinforcements. Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed," a screenshot of the post, shared by Adalah, read.

'No evidence of firearms'

Protesters in Gaza gathered in five different spots along the border, originally positioned about 700 metres away from a highly fortified fence marking the Gaza-Israel border.

Israeli forces responded with live fire, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.

Multiple videos appear to show Palestinians being shot while not posing an immediate threat.

{articleGUID}

"Human Rights Watch could find no evidence of any protester using firearms or any IDF claim of threatened firearm use at the demonstrations," the report said.

The Israeli use of deadly force has drawn international condemnation; the United Nations and rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the killings.

But the Israeli minister for security has said "there is no reason" for Israel to cooperate with a UN inquiry into army actions.

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the army, saying his troops were successful "guarding the country's borders" and allowing "Israeli citizens to celebrate the [Passover] holiday peacefully".

The protests were planned on the 42nd commemoration of Land Day, which took place on March 30, 1976, when six unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli forces during protests against the Israeli government's decision to expropriate massive tracts of Palestinian-owned land.

Eric Goldstein, the deputy Middle East director at HRW, said: "Praising the army’s handling of the March 30 events and saying there shall be no inquiry into how Israeli soldiers gunned down 14 protesters across a fence says much about how cheaply Israeli authorities view the lives of Palestinians in Gaza." </s> DUBAI (Reuters) - Amnesty International on Friday denounced Western arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its allies in a coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen, saying such traffic made a "mockery" of a global arms trade treaty.

The rights group accused both the Saudi-led coalition forces and the Iran-allied Houthis of committing potential war crimes in the three-year conflict.

 More than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since March 2015 when Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim Arab states launched a military campaign against the Houthis, a group of Shi'ite fighters who had seized the capital and forced President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi to flee.

 "There is extensive evidence that irresponsible arms flows to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have resulted in enormous harm to Yemeni civilians," Lynn Maalouf, Director of Research for the Middle East at Amnesty International, said in a statement. 

 "But this has not deterred the USA, the UK and other states, including France, Spain and Italy, from continuing transfers of billions of dollars' worth of such arms. As well as devastating civilian lives, this makes a mockery of the global Arms Trade Treaty."

 The organization said it had documented 36 coalition air strikes since 2015 that appeared to have violated international law, adding that some may amount to war crimes. The documented attacks had killed 513 civilians, including at least 157 children, and wounded 379 others, according to Amnesty. 

 It said the Houthis and their allies had conducted arbitrary arrests and detentions of opponents, and that scores of men and women had been subjected to enforced disappearances and harsh sentences following unfair trails.

 Saudi Arabia and its allies have repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes and say their campaign is directed against Houthi fighters, and not civilians. The Houthi movement has also denied accusations of war crimes.

 Amnesty said that as the conflict enters its fourth year it shows no real signs of abating and that all sides were impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid to at least 22.2 million people in need of assistance and more than one million suffering from suspected cases of cholera.

 The rights group said that despite the loosening of a blockade on Yemeni ports imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, it continues to impose restrictions on aid and commercial imports of essential goods.

 Two rights groups in France said on Friday they would take legal action against the French government unless it halts sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia and its ally the United Arab Emirates within two months.

 Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the Yemen conflict with President Donald Trump this week during a visit to the United States.

 U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told Prince Mohammed on Thursday that there was an urgent need to end the war.

 

 (Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Ghaida Ghantous and Peter Graff)
Amnesty International makes a fresh call for an arms embargo against Israel, claiming "malicious tactics" and "murderous" attacks on Gazan civilians justify one.