Rights groups: Gaza protests aren’t combat, IDF must stop shooting protesters

Palestinian protesters demonstrate and burn tires

Edo Konrad, in +972, writes, “After three weeks in which Israeli army snipers have killed dozens and wounded well over 1,200 protesters inside the Gaza Strip, four prominent human rights organizations petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice on Sunday, demanding that the court order the state to revoke the rules of engagement that permit shooting demonstrators who pose no danger to human life. The overwhelming majority of those who were killed and wounded by Israeli forces over the past three weeks were unarmed participants in the “Great Return March,” a 45-day series of festivals and protestsset to culminate on Nakba Day in mid-May.”

“The rights groups asked the court for an urgent hearing — before this Friday’s protests. The rules of engagement that the army has applied to  Gaza permit soldiers to shoot live rounds at demonstrators who are classified as “central inciters” or “central rioters” — regardless of whether they actually endanger human life, according to the petition. Moreover, the regulations allow soldiers to shoot demonstrators who get too close to the border fence, even if they are not posing a danger to anyone.” (read more)