israeli and Palestinian Rights Groups Criticize israeli Inquiry Into 2014 Gaza War

A displaced Palestinian family camped amid the destruction in Gaza in 2014, after a cease-fire with Israel came into effect. About 2,200 Palestinians were killed during the war that year, more than half of them civilians. On the Israeli side, 73 people were killed, most of them soldiers. Credit Wissam Nassar for The New York Times

JERUSALEM — Israeli and Palestinian rights organizations have challenged the credibility of Israel’s inquiries into possible military misconduct during the 2014 war in Gaza, with one group describing the internal legal process as a “facade” intended to try to stave off a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court.

In a report released on Tuesday, the group, B’Tselem, a left-wing Israeli organization that focuses on allegations of rights abuses against Palestinians in Gaza and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, characterized the military’s system of internal investigations as a “whitewash protocol.”

“The work of the military law enforcement system does nothing more than offer the illusion that Israel is fulfilling its obligations to investigate breaches of law,” the group said.

The sharp recriminations come two years after the cease-fire that ended 50 days of fighting in the summer of 2014 between Israel and rocket-firing militant groups in Gaza led by Hamas.

In a sign of persistent tensions, the Israeli military said on Tuesday that its air force had intercepted a Hamas drone just off the coast of Gaza.

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