Judge, jury, and executioner: 'Israel' investigates its own crimes
6 Min Read
'Israel' claims it can investigate itself and has initiated numerous probes into the conduct of occupation soldiers.
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Abdulrahman Al-Rai holds his daughter Hana Al-Rai, 3, who suffers from diabetes, a weakened immune system, and malnutrition at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where she is receiving treatment, on June 1, 2024. (AP)
Throughout its seven-month war against the Gaza Strip, "Israel" has pledged to investigate a series of deadly incidents in which its occupation forces are accused of crimes against humanity. This commitment comes amid growing reports from human rights groups and the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, calling out occupation leaders for committing war crimes in the Strip.
In all of the cases, "Israel" has called the massacres tragic "mistakes", blamed the victims for what took place, or blamed the Resistance.
In one of the cases, an attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy that killed five foreign aid workers, the Israeli army quickly published its findings, acknowledged misconduct by its forces, and dismissed two soldiers. However, other investigations remain ongoing, and admissions of guilt are rare.
It's worth mentioning that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an obvious attempt at soothing public opinion, claimed while smiling in a video release that the targeting of a convoy of the NGO's vehicles was a mere "accident". It should be worth noting that the convoy was struck three times.
Israeli media outlet Haaretz, citing Israeli security sources, reported that after surviving an initial hit and attempting to seek refuge in another vehicle, the aid crew moved to a third vehicle, where they were ultimately finished off by Israeli forces.
"Israel’s" Military Advocate General, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said this week that the occupation military is investigating about 70 cases of "possible" crime. However, the military refused to disclose the full list of investigations and told The Associated Press it could only respond to queries about specific probes.
A deadly strike on a tent camp kills displaced families
On Tuesday, "Israel" revealed the preliminary results of an investigation into a deadly strike on a tent camp sheltering displaced families in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Sunday’s strike killed at least 45 people, leaving many to burn alive. Most of the victims were women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli occupation military’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said a preliminary investigation found that the Israeli munitions used that day to "eliminate two Hamas militants" were too small to be the source of a fire that broke out.
However, it's worth mentioning that several reports accused "Israel" of bombing the camp using airstrikes, which set the area ablaze, killing internally displaced Palestinians. A few days after the massacre, Itzhak Brik, Major General (Reserve) in the Israeli occupation military and former ombudsman for the occupation forces, pointed out that entering the city of Rafah in southern Gaza was a 'strategic mistake' that isolated 'Israel' from the rest of the world because of the massacre it committed.
On that note, the Chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini dismissed "Israel's" assertion regarding the establishment of purported "safe zones" for forcibly displaced Palestinians as "false and misleading" via a post on X on May 13, which was proven right after the massacre in Rafah. "The claim of ‘safe zones’ is false and misleading," the UNRWA chief stressed.
Scores of civilians are shot dead around a flour convoy
The latest massacre is not the only crime "Israel" is being confronted with. In February, witnesses reported that Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza City. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 104 people were killed and 760 were wounded.
The occupation quickly released preliminary investigation results, arguing that large crowds attempted to seize supplies from a pre-dawn convoy of 30 army trucks carrying flour to northern Gaza. The army reported that dozens of Palestinians were killed in a "stampede", with some run over by the trucks as the drivers attempted to escape. To back their claim, the occupation released aerial footage alleging that Palestinians were martyred due to a "stampede" during aid collection.
However, the occupation's biased investigation was proven wrong after the BBC investigation uncovered that the footage was edited and not presented as a continuous sequence, raising suspicions that the IOF have concealed the part where they opened fire on the people gathered at the Nabulsi Roundabout. BBC Verify reviewed social media videos, satellite imagery, and IOF drone footage to assemble a “comprehensive understanding” of the information regarding the massacre.
"Israel" picked out parts of the footage and removed it. The question is - what happened in those few seconds to minutes?
Al-Ahli Hospital massacre
Another massacre shook the world during the first weeks of the Israeli aggression on Gaza. In October, an explosion in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Hospital, where thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter or medical treatment, ignited an inferno that burned men, women, and children alive.
Officials in Gaza quickly reported that an Israeli airstrike had hit the hospital, killing at least 500 people. Images of the aftermath sparked protests across the region. Within hours, Israeli officials announced that they had conducted an investigation and determined that they were "not involved."
Here's a fact check - On October 17, at 9:23 pm, Hananya Naftaly, an Israeli influencer who had served in the Israeli Occupation Forces during the Israeli war on Gaza in 2014, wrote in a post on X: "BREAKING: Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza. A multiple number of terrorists are dead. It's heartbreaking that Hamas is launching rockets from hospitals, Mosques, and schools and using civilians as human shields. #Hamas_Is_ISIS."
Only two minutes later, Naftali deleted the earlier post and adopted the newly published and unbelievable Israeli rhetoric that says the IOF did not target the Hospital.
The primary Israeli rhetoric was that they did not know what happened, but then they claimed it was a misfire by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. While the IOF's Arabic spokesperson spewed misinformation, made-up scenarios, and prepared a whole media content series to push that rhetoric, US Marines confirmed that the level of destruction could only be attributed to US missiles, noting that the PIJ rockets cannot create such damages.
More importantly, the crucial question is: How can the murderer investigate his own crime? Additionally, isn't it typically the guilty who oppose organizations advocating for humanitarian rights?
Consider how "Israel" conducted a nine-year campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC) to obstruct its investigations into the occupation.
