The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has called for an end to violence in Gaza after hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of a Palestinian journalist shot beside Israel’s security fence.
Yasser Murtaja, a 31-year-old photographer, was wearing a clearly marked press vest as he reported on a mass demonstration along the Gaza border, in Khuzaa, on 6 April when he was shot. The area was engulfed in thick black smoke from tyres that had been set on fire.
Murtaja was one of about 30 Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire over the past 10 days along the border. As many as 491 people were wounded in last Friday’s protest against the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. Mass rallies are due to continue until 15 May.
In a strongly worded statement, Fatou Bensouda, a lawyer from Gambia and the ICC’s chief prosecutor, based in The Hague, cautioned both sides about the “deteriorating situation”.
She said: “Since 30 March 2018 at least 27 Palestinians have been reportedly killed by the Israeli defence forces, with over 1,000 more injured, many as a result of shootings using live ammunition and rubber bullets.
“Violence against civilians, in a situation such as the one prevailing in Gaza, could constitute crimes under the Rome statute of the [ICC], as could the use of civilian presence for the purpose of shielding military activities.”
The prosecutor’s office is conducting a preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine. “My office will continue to closely watch the situation and will record any instance of incitement or resort to unlawful force,” added Bensouda.
Murtaja, who died overnight, was buried on Saturday. Colleagues said he was not affiliated with Hamas or any militant group. For his funeral his body was draped in a Palestinian flag. His flak jacket, emblazoned with the word “press”, was placed on him as he was carried through the streets of Gaza. The drone he had used for shooting aerial footage hovered above to film his funeral. Friends denied he had been using it when he was shot on Friday.
On Sunday the Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, claimed there were “no innocent people” in the Hamas-run enclave.
“Everyone’s connected to Hamas, everyone gets a salary from Hamas, and all the activists trying to challenge us and breach the border are Hamas military-wing activists,” he told Israel’s public radio. “We know that in many instances Hamas has used journalists and the media and the Red Crescent and ambulances to carry out terror activities. Whoever flies a drone over [Israeli] forces, over our soldiers – we won’t take any chances.”
Two weeks ago Murtaja posted a drone photo of Gaza’s seaport at sunset on his Facebook page with the caption: “I wished I could take this photo from the sky, not from land. My name is Yasser Murtaja, I am 30 years old. I live in Gaza City. I have never travelled.”