An Israeli human rights group Wednesday urged the government to launch an independent probe into a three-week Israeli offensive in Gaza which killed some 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them non-combatants.
"Better late than never: even two years since Operation Cast Lead, an independent Israeli investigation is crucial to achieve accountability and prevent future violations," B'Tselem said in a statement, issued on the anniversary of the end of the Gaza War, which took place in the winter of 2008-09.
B'Tselem provided its own casualty count of the war, saying that 1,390 Palestinians had been killed, of whom it said at least 759 were non-combatants. The dead included 318 minors.
More than 5,300 Palestinians were also injured in the deadliest fighting by far since Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan in 1967.
Internal investigations by the Israeli military police launched to probe individual allegations against soldiers were insufficient and did not meet the demands for an independent probe, while they also did not question policy, the rights group said.
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