Palestinians sleep at a United Nations school, where people who fled heavy Israeli shelling in the Shejaia neighbourhood sought refuge during fighting,
Palestinians sleep at a United Nations school, where people who fled heavy Israeli shelling in the Shejaia neighbourhood sought refuge during fighting, in Gaza City July 21, 2014. Israeli forces killed at least 10 Palestinian militants on Monday after they crossed the border from Gaza through two tunnels, the military said, as the death toll from the two-week conflict passed 500. The overnight raids lifted the Palestinian death toll to 484, mostly civilians, since fighting started on July 8. Israel says 18 of its soldiers have also died along with two civilians. Reuters

Faced with allegations of atrocities during the Gaza war, Israel's military attorney general has ordered criminal investigations into five specific incidents in the recent Gaza war, reported BBC.

It includes the killing of four Palestinian children on a beach and the shelling of a United Nations school. In the IDF air strikes near the Gaza port on July 16, four children were killed while they were playing. In the mortar attack on a UN school, 13 people were killed. It was a shelter for displaced people. The attack left dozens of people injured. That time Israel defended the attack by blaming it on the errant mortar that hit the school but discounted all reports of casualties.

Talking to journalists, a senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer gave details of the five specific cases under scrutiny for criminal wrongdoing. Besides the above two incidents, the fatal shooting of a Palestinian woman who tried to escape from an area of fighting will also be taken up. Other cases include Israeli soldiers' maltreating and using a Palestinian teenager as human shield. Yet another one pertains to a theft from a private home in Shejaiya.

International Inquiries

In total, 102 cases will be considered by the investigative teams. It is hoped that the internal inquiries would equip Israel to fight back international investigations.Israel will soon face many international probe panels. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also threatened to drag Israel to the International Criminal Court. The UN Human Rights Council has already set up a commission of inquiry into war crimes committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants.

Eyewash

Al Jazeera reported the comments made by of a few international observers who felt unconvinced by Israel's sudden change of heart. Noura Erakat, professor at George Mason University and a human rights expert, told Al Jazeera that Israel's decision to investigate itself was a ploy to deflect international scrutiny from its recent assault on Gaza strip. It is also a way to stonewall any investigation by the International Criminal Court. The military operation in 2009 also led to a UN fact-finding mission headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone. Though it found strong evidence of Israel and Hamas having committed war crimes, Israel called it a prejudiced report. Goldstone himself backtracked from his findings later. But the conclusions of his team in the report remain unchanged.