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Israel considers Occupied Palestine a free-fire zone, especially in besieged Gaza.

Soldiers on Friday were ordered to shoot to kill or injure defenseless Palestinians – a high crime by any standard.

A bloody Friday followed the week ago massacre – 9 more Gazans killed, over 1,000 others injured, two dozen or more with life-threatening injuries.

In the past 8 days, at least 31 Palestinians were killed, over 6,000 injured, mostly by live fire, the death toll virtually certain to rise – the world community doing nothing to stop the carnage.

IDF spokesman Rone Manelis lied, claiming soldiers thwarted dozens of attempts by Palestinians to enter Israel through the border fence – disgracefully adding they opened fire “in accordance with the rules of engagement.”

Nothing justifies attacking nonviolent demonstrators with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets and toxic tear gas. Israel gets away with murder and much more because the world community sits on its hands and does nothing.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres disgraced himself like earlier, saying

“I particularly urge Israel to exercise extreme caution with the use of force in order to avoid casualties.”

Arab-Israeli Knesset member Haneen Zoabi demanded accountability “for (Israeli) crimes against Palestinians,” adding:

“Popular resistance is the only way that the Palestinians can free themselves” from repressive occupation.

She urged “millions of Palestinians to march to Jerusalem,” adding “we cannot do this because the Israelis will kill them.”

“I am a Palestinian. I am expected to be loyal to Zionism while the only meaning of Zionism is to deny my rights and to deny my identity.”

“…Israel transform(ed) (itself) from a racist situation to a fascist situation.”

Like the previous Friday, demonstrators were several hundred meters from Israel’s border. IDF snipers killed and wounded Gazans threatening no one in cold blood.

The world’s self-styled “most moral army” is the most vicious. Given dire shortages of vital medicines and supplies in Gaza, its health ministry called on the world community to help.

Without it, greater suffering and more deaths are certain. Gaza’s health system under siege has inadequate fuel, medicines, supplies and equipment.

It exhausted its supply of over 200 essential medicines. Others are inadequate to treat the sick and wounded.

Without urgently needed world community help, Gaza’s healthcare system faces possible collapse, a dire situation gone unaddressed.

For the second time in two weeks, Washington alone blocked a Security Council statement, calling for an independent investigation of carnage in Gaza.

Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called Washington’s veto a “green light (for Israel) to continue (its) onslaught against the civilian population.”

On Friday evening, an IDF statement turned truth on its head, saying:

“Rioters have attempted to damage and cross the security fence under the cover of smoke from their burning tires.”

“They also attempted to carry out terror attacks and hurl explosive devices and firebombs. Our forces prevented breaches” of the fence.

All of the above is willful disinformation, Israel attempting to justify what’s flagrantly unjustifiable and illegal.

Excessive force, brutal repression, and cold-blooded murder are longstanding Israeli policies.

The world community yawns and does nothing – encouraging carnage to continue by inaction.

How many more Palestinians will die under brutal occupation? How many are too many?

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Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the CRG, Correspondent of Global Research based in Chicago.