Israel clears forces in several deadly 2014 Gaza war cases

“We will continue to protect innocent Israeli citizens from the firing of rockets into our territory according to worldwide law and in accordance with our responsibility and conscience”, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s response read.

“Hamas is not interested in solving the crisis – but to rebuild its power”, Lieberman said during a visit to an Israeli military post in northern Israel on Tuesday, according to a statement from his office.

The Ministry called on the global community to take note of the crimes Israel is committing against the Palestinian people. The IDF said that the attack did occur and that one senior Hamas official and some other Hamas agents were killed.

Adel Zoroub, whose sister’s home was destroyed, rejected the army’s findings.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday Israel would not allow Hamas to arm itself, two days after it carried almost 50 attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Cases to be closed include investigations into airstrikes on buildings in Gaza in which numerous members of the same family were killed and strikes on facilities such as schools and medical clinics.

Palestinians militant and the Israeli military have not engaged in a conflict since the seven-week war that began in July 2014 and left more than 2,200 Palestinians and 70 Israelis dead but flare-ups have been intermittent, particularly on the border between the two territories.

Following a rocket attack into Sderot Lieberman ordered a series of responses which included an IAF assault on dozens of Hamas-related facilities in Gaza during the night that followed the attack. More than 1,400 Palestinian civilians were among the dead, according to United Nations figures.

The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary examination of Israeli conduct in the war, but issued no conclusions.

Among the cases closed by the IDF’s Military Advocate General noted in an update released Wednesday was an investigation of a widely condemned strike near a Rafah school, which the MAG determined had been carried out in compliance with proper procedures.

The latest MAG report says that it has so far received around 500 complaints and reports relating to around 360 incidents during Operation Protective Edge. It has found enough evidence to launch some 31 criminal investigations.