JERUSALEM
By Turgut Alp Boyraz
An Israeli military prosecutor has ordered an investigation into five deadly attacks carried out by Israel during the latter's seven-week military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, including the bombing of a U.N.-run school.
"IDF Military Advocate General has instructed the military police to open 5 criminal investigations on IDF [army] conduct in [Operation] Protective Edge," army spokesman Peter Lerner wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday.
The investigation will cover a military strike on a Gaza beach that left four Palestinian children dead on July 16, as well as a July 24 attack on an UNRWA school that killed 14 Palestinians.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an investigation into the Israeli attack on the UNRWA school and the prosecution of those found responsible.
Israel's 51-day onslaught on the Gaza Strip ended on August 26 with the announcement of an open-ended cease-fire deal with Palestinian resistance factions.
The devastating offensive left some 2,155 Gazans dead and 11,000 injured – the vast majority of them civilians – while leaving thousands of residential structures in ruins.
According to Israeli figures, 67 Israeli soldiers and five civilians were killed over the course of the operation – the highest military death toll suffered by Israel since it lost 119 troops in its 33-day war with Hezbollah in 2006.
www.aa.com.tr/en
