Arab League demands international probe into Israeli 'crimes'

Foreign Ministers at Arab League Meeting call for UN action on Gaza killings

CAIRO, EGYPT:

The Arab League called Thursday for an international probe into alleged crimes by Israeli forces against Palestinians following mass protests on the Gaza border that saw dozens of demonstrators killed.

Tens of thousands have protested along Gaza's border with Israel since March 30 calling for Palestinian refugees to be able to return to their homes now inside Israel.

The largest demonstrations coincided with the move of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, which saw Israeli forces kill some 60 Palestinians.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will on Friday host an emergency summit in Istanbul of the world's main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which he said would send a "strong message to the world".



Foreign ministers at an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League in Cairo called on the United Nations to form an international committee to investigate the killings.

They adopted a resolution calling for "a clear mechanism to hold Israeli officials accountable and bring them to trial over this crime".

Erdogan, who also announced plans for a pro-Palestinian rally on Friday, has exchanged barbs with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling Israel an "apartheid state" and ordering the country's ambassador to Turkey to leave.

Weeks of protests and clashes along the border may be reaching an end as Ramadan begins, but the death toll has led to international condemnations of Israel and calls for an independent investigation.

"We are facing a state of blatant aggression against international law and legitimacy which was embodied by the US embassy's transfer in the occupying state to Jerusalem," said Abul Gheit.



Israel has rejected those demands, saying its actions are necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave run by militant movement Hamas.

Hamas threatens 'all force' 

On Wednesday, Israel seized upon remarks by a senior Hamas member who said 50 of the 62 Palestinians killed this week were members of the group, arguing it showed the protests were not peaceful.

The protests, which have seen unsuccessful attempts to break through the fence, have dwindled since Monday, and the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on Thursday may further dampen interest.

Friday- the day protests usually peak- will be a key test of whether the current round of unrest will continue.

The demonstrations were meant to end on May 15, but Hamas officials have said they want them to continue.

Israeli forces have killed 116 Palestinians since the protests began, with one Israeli soldier reported wounded.

Israel hit a Hamas base in an air raid Thursday, the military said, adding that gunfire from Gaza had targeted its soldiers and damaged a house. No one was reported hurt on either side.

Hamas on Thursday signalled it could resort to its weapons in response to this week's violence, but many analysts see that as unlikely for now.



"Bloodshed would stop"

The Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo came after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday said his government was communicating with both sides "so that this bloodshed would stop".

Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday that the Egyptians "support the right of our people to struggle and the right of return, and stressed their keenness not to allow these marches to degenerate into an armed military confrontation."

Israel has rejected criticism over Monday's violence, with the United States strongly backing its ally and blaming Hamas for the deaths.

Calls for an independent probe into the deaths have come from many sides, including Britain, Germany, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the European Union.

Israel accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking to use the demonstrations as cover for violence.

 

Hamas denies Israeli accusations it orchestrated the demonstrations, saying it supports them but that they were organised independently.