A military investigation into one of the bloodiest incidents of 2014's Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip has found no criminal wrongdoing by Israeli forces and no grounds to prosecute any troops, the IDF said on Wednesday.
The announcement drew condemnations from Palestinians and human rights advocates, who accused the Israeli military of a whitewash.
Known in military circles as "Rafah's Black Friday," the last battle of the 2014 war erupted in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on Aug. 1, some 90 minutes after the truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect.
Givati Brigade Lt. Hadar Goldin, reconnaissance company commander Maj. Benaya Sarel and signal operator Staff Sgt. Liel Gidoni were killed and Hamas operatives were able to abduct Goldin's body. The terrorist group still holds it and the body of another Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 war, Sgt. Oron Shaul.
An official from the Military Advocate General's Office said the Rafah battle had been very complex and that dozens of complaints were filed over it, mostly over the aggressive recovery operation that followed Goldin's abduction, which included massive aerial and ground shelling aimed at stopping Hamas from taking Goldin deep into Gaza.
It is estimated that between 130 and 150 Palestinians were killed and hundreds of others were wounded in the strikes, which the complaints described as "highly disproportionate."
The IDF issued a statement saying the Military Advocate General's Office had carried out a comprehensive investigation and had found that "a criminal investigation is not warranted into the incidents that occurred during the fighting.
"The MAG did not find that the actions of the IDF forces that were examined raised grounds for a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct. The MAG found that the IDF's policy with respect to the use of firepower during the fighting – by tanks, by artillery and mortars, or from the air – accorded with Israeli domestic law and international law requirements."
The statement said the investigation found no evidence to suggest the IDF sought revenge over Goldin's abduction and that the operational decisions attempted to minimize Palestinian casualties.
The evidence does not support claims of disproportionate use of force, the investigation ruled.
Human rights groups have accused the Israeli military of ignoring or covering up wrongdoing in its investigations over the years.
The B'Tselem human rights group condemned the latest findings, saying, "The Military Advocate General has again proved that no matter how high the number of Palestinians killed, nor how arbitrary the circumstances of their killing by the military was, the Israeli whitewashing mechanism he heads will find a way to bury the facts."
Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, also condemned the decision.
"This emphasizes the unfairness of the Israeli inquiry and the need for an international investigation committee to probe Israel's crimes in Rafah and in all the Gaza Strip and Palestinian lands," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.
The Palestinians are seeking to press war crimes charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The court's prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation, but has not made a decision on whether to move ahead with a case.
A key factor in that decision could be whether the prosecutor believes Israel's own investigations into actions by its troops are credible.
