Israel's defense minister said Tuesday that the military will not change its tough response to Hamas-led mass protests near the Israel-Gaza Strip border, warning that those who approach the border are putting their lives at risk.
Visiting the border, where 17 Palestinians were killed and 1,400 were wounded last week in riots, Lieberman said, "I think the other side also understands that it is not worth its while to continue [rioting] and I warn them against continuing the provocation. We have established clear ground rules and we do not intend to change them. Anyone who approaches the border is putting their life in danger.
"I advise Gaza's citizens to devote their efforts not to protests against Israel but to changing the leadership in the Strip – the same leadership that instead of focusing on the development of power, water and education infrastructures invests $260 million in terror infrastructure," he said.
Commenting in the criticism leveled at Israel over the number of casualties in Friday's riots, Lieberman said, "First of all, you need to understand that most of those who were killed were terrorists that we know well, they were members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad's military wings. They were not innocent civilians who were part of a civil prowwww.
"This was a well-organized provocation by Hamas' military wing in an attempt to undermine our sovereignty, to disrupt daily life and to disturb Israelis in celebrating their [Passover] Seder with optimism and security. We are doing what we must do," he said.
Also on Tuesday, The Palestinian Ambassador at the United Nations Riyad Mansour appealed to the U.N. Security Council for immediate international protection for Palestinian civilians, especially in Gaza.
In a letter to the council, he claimed that Israel has adopted "a shoot-to-kill policy" during what he called peaceful protests.
Mansour echoed U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres' call for an independent investigation of the violence on the border and accused Israel of "intentionally, grossly and systematically" violating its legal obligation to protect civilians.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old Gaza man was killed Tuesday by IDF fire as he hurled rocks at Israeli troops near the security fence.
The international group Human Rights Watch accused Lieberman and other senior Israeli officials Tuesday of unlawfully calling for the use of live fire against Palestinian protesters who posed no imminent threat to life.
Israeli officials have said soldiers in the border area had orders to target the "main instigators" and those who approach the border. The IDF stressed that troops have been instructed to exercise maximum restraint so as to minimize the number of Palestinian casualties.
In Tuesday's violence, the military said dozens of Palestinians had participated in riots at four locations along the border, and troops had fired toward suspects who damaged the security fence.
Human Rights Watch said Israel has presented no evidence to that effect.
"The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms, coupled with the longstanding culture of impunity within the Israeli army for serious abuses," the group said.
Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas official, said mass protests would continue as planned, despite Lieberman's threats.
He said the Israeli defense minister's latest comments should be seen as "more evidence of a war crime he [Lieberman] committed in Gaza last Friday."
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis reiterated Tuesday that hurling rocks at Israel troops other actions by protesters near the border fence were acts of terror.
Rejecting claims of excessive use of force, he argued that there would have been far more bloodshed in the event of a mass border breach.
In Gaza, protest organizers also prepared for the next confrontation.
Plans were circulated on social media to burn large numbers of tires this Friday, when Hamas has called for a mass protest in solidarity with last week's casualties.
Protesters are apparently planning to use the smoke, as well as mirrors, to block the view of Israeli snipers.
The planned protests seem to be the last hope for Hamas to try to break a border blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt in 2007, when the group staged a military coup and seized Gaza from Western-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Two other blockade-busting strategies – war with Israel and reconciliation with Abbas – have failed.
Hamas has said the border protests would continue until May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israel's creation. Palestinians mourn the date as the anniversary of their "Nakba," or "catastrophe," of the displacement of Palestinian refugees during Israel's War of Independence.
Hamas has said the protests would culminate in a "March of Return," implying the demonstrators would at some point try cross the border fence into Israeli territory.
However, Hamas officials have not specifically called for a mass breach of the fence.
