On February 29, 2024, over 100 people were killed in the Gaza Strip in the chaos that erupted when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd that had gathered at trucks with supplies.
Still, no one within the Israeli military has been prosecuted for the incident, according to a new report from the London-based organization Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), reports The Guardian.
Another case where no one has been held accountable so far concerns an Israeli air raid on a tent camp in Rafah in May of the same year, in which 45 Palestinians were killed.
A prison sentence
These events are two of a total of 52 cases that the report authors have found in English-language media where Israel has either initiated or claimed to be about to initiate investigations.
The period studied extends from the outbreak of war after the Hamas terror attack on October 7 to June this year and includes cases from both Gaza and the West Bank. In total, it involves 1,303 dead Palestinians and an additional 1,880 injured.
Only one soldier has so far been sentenced to prison in the 52 studied cases. This concerns a soldier who was sentenced to a seven-month prison sentence for assaulting Palestinian prisoners.
In five other cases, military personnel have been found guilty of violations. One of these cases involves the high-profile attack on the aid organization World Central Kitchen, in which seven aid workers were killed, resulting in two senior officers being dismissed and three additional commanders being reprimanded.
Israel: Investigations are ongoing
Among the remaining 46 cases, seven have been closed without action, while 39 are still being investigated or have been closed without being reported.
The report authors believe that the results of the study point to Israel wanting to create a "pattern of impunity" by either not imposing any penalties or letting the investigations drag on.
The Israeli military tells The Guardian that they have initiated "dozens of investigations", that most of these are still ongoing, and emphasizes that they are "conducting surveys and investigations of exceptional events" in accordance with Israeli and international law.
