UN Rights Council Slams Israel’s Deadly Quelling of Gaza Protests

Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from Israeli gunfire and tear gas during a protest near the Israel-Gaza border fence, in the southern Gaza Strip December 21, 2018. (Reuters)
Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from Israeli gunfire and tear gas during a protest near the Israel-Gaza border fence, in the southern Gaza Strip December 21, 2018. (Reuters)
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UN Rights Council Slams Israel’s Deadly Quelling of Gaza Protests

Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from Israeli gunfire and tear gas during a protest near the Israel-Gaza border fence, in the southern Gaza Strip December 21, 2018. (Reuters)
Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from Israeli gunfire and tear gas during a protest near the Israel-Gaza border fence, in the southern Gaza Strip December 21, 2018. (Reuters)

The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned on Friday Israel’s use of force against protesters in Gaza.

On the final day of a four-week session, the Geneva forum adopted a resolution on accountability, brought by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The vote was 23 states in favor, eight against, with 15 abstentions and one delegation absent.

The council slammed the “apparent intentional use of unlawful lethal and other excessive force” against civilian protesters in Gaza and called for perpetrators of violations in the enclave to face justice.

It called for cooperating with a preliminary examination opened by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2015 into alleged Israeli human rights violations.

The resolution was based on a report by a UN inquiry which said that Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in killing 189 Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 at weekly protests last year.

“The targeting of civilians is a serious matter that should not be condoned,” Palestine’s ambassador Ibrahim Khraisi said, citing the report’s findings. The toll included 35 Palestinian children, two journalists, and medical workers, he noted.

“There have not been any injuries inflicted on any Israelis, be they military or civilians,” he said.

Protests at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip began in March last year, with Palestinians demanding Israel ease a blockade of Gaza and recognize their right to return to lands their families fled or were forced from when Israel was founded in 1948.

On Friday, Israeli forces killed two people and wounded 55 others taking part in the weekly protests along the fortified border, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Medical officials said two men aged 29 and 18 were killed by Israeli fire at two sites in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said its forces faced around 9,500 demonstrators, some hurling rocks and rolling burning tires. A military spokeswoman said troops had responded with “riot dispersal means” and fired according to standard operating procedures.

Gaza medical officials say that around 200 people have been killed since Palestinians launched the weekly border protests on March 30 last year.

About 60 other Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in other incidents over the same period, including exchanges of fire across the border. One Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper along the frontier, and another was killed during a botched undercover raid into Gaza.



Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said Friday Damascus and Ankara had reached a deal for Türkiye to supply natural gas to the war-torn country via a pipeline in the north.

"I agreed with my Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar on supplying Syria with six million cubic meters of natural gas a day through the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline," Bashir said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

Kilis is near Türkiye’s border with Syria, which is north of the city of Aleppo.

The deal will "contribute to increasing the hours of electricity provision and improve the energy situation in Syria", Bashir added.

Syria's authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.

The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.

Bayraktar told the private CNN-Turk broadcaster late Thursday that "we will provide natural gas to Syria from Kilis within the next three months".

"This gas will be used in electricity generation at the natural gas power plant in Aleppo," he said, confirming an expected daily flow of six million cubic meters.

In March, Qatar said it had begun funding gas supplies to Syria from Jordan, in a move aimed at addressing electricity production shortages and improving infrastructure.

That announcement said the initiative was set to generate up to 400 megawatts of electricity daily in the first phase, with production capacity to gradually increase at the Deir Ali station southeast of Damascus.

Both Türkiye and Qatar have close ties with Syria's transitional government, and were the first two countries to reopen their embassies in Damascus after Assad's ouster.

Both have also urged the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

In January, Syria's electricity chief said two power ships were being sent from Türkiye and Qatar to increase supply after the United States eased sanctions, allowing fuel and electricity donations to Syria for six months.

Last month, Britain said it was lifting energy production sector sanctions, a move Damascus said would "directly contribute to improving" Syrians' living conditions.