IDF opens investigation into deaths of two Gazan teens

Israel’s military has opened investigations into the deaths of two Palestinian teenagers who were shot while taking part in weekly demonstrations along the Gaza border fence.

The IDF’s Military Advocate General Maj.-Gen. Sharon Afek decided to order an investigation into two incidents in which Palestinians were shot in the Gaza Strip by IDF forces.

Afek called for the investigation after examining the command debriefings of the incidents and after additional information received by the IDF raised suspicions that the shooting was not in accordance with the rules of engagement.

“The General Staff debriefing mechanism will continue to investigate the events and its findings will be transferred to the Judge Advocate General’s Office,” read a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

The first incident in which 18-year-old Abdel Fattah Abdel Nabi was killed occurred on March 30th, 2018, near the security fence east of Jabalya in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinians, Nabi was retreating from the perimeter area with another young Palestinian with his back to IDF troops when he was shot.

In videos released on social media, the other Palestinian is seen picking up a tire and running with it away from the border fence.  Nabi was then seen joining him and taking the tire while continuing to run away from the border fence.  The video also caught the moment Nabi was hit from the sniper fire, dropping to the ground before being evacuated by other protesters.

The video did not show Nabi’s actions before his retreat from the fence and the IDF said that the video only showed part of the event which led to him being shot.

“Hamas distributes many different videos, including those that show only parts of events, edited and fabricated. Our forces acted according to the rules of engagement in a thoughtful manner, while refraining from harming civilians whom Hamas placed on the front lines in order to embarrass Israel while endangering those civilians.”

The second incident, which occurred on July 13th, killed 15 year-old Othman Helles after he was shot in the stomach by IDF fire east of Gaza City.

According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, troops were responding to the violent protests after a soldier was moderately injured from a grenade that had been thrown by rioters.

“Throughout the day there were violent riots involving thousands of Palestinians along the security fence between Gaza and Israel. Rioters threw grenades, explosive devices and fire bombs, burned tires, and threw stones at the security fence and at IDF troops,” the statement read, adding that troops had responded with riot dispersal methods.

Palestinians have been protesting along the Gaza border fence every Friday since March 30th.

The protests along the border have been dubbed the greatest threats to Israeli security in the region since operation Protective Edge due to the combination of terror tunnels, riots, attempted infiltrations and the use of incendiary items.

Over 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began. One Israeli soldier was killed by a sniper and another officer was moderately wounded after he was shot by a sniper in the Kissufim area in an ambush.