United Nations Independent Commission on the 2018 Gaza border protests
The United Nations Independent Commission on the 2018 Gaza border protests was created by the UN Human Rights Council on May 18, 2018 to investigate Israel’s response to protests near the Gaza-Israel border. It looked at Israel’s use of tear gas and live ammunition against Gazan protesters. In a special session, the council approved the resolution to establish the Commission and condemned the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by Israeli forces against Palestinians. The Commission was asked to deliver a final report by March 2019.
Santiago Canton of Argentina served as chair, with Kaari Betty Murungi of Kenya and Sara Hossain of Bangladesh as members. David Michael Crane of the United States, the original chair, resigned on August 22, 2018 for personal reasons.
On February 28, 2019, the Commission said it had reasonable grounds to believe Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes and shot at journalists, health workers, and children during the 2018 Gaza protests. Israel refused to participate in the inquiry and rejected the report.
On March 18, 2019, the inquiry presented its full report after a summary released the previous month which stated that 189 Palestinians died, 183 from live ammunition, including 32 children. The report urged Israeli authorities to strengthen investigations into the shootings of Palestinian demonstrators.
Earlier, on April 5, 2018, the IDF announced an internal investigation into the deaths of civilians during the prior week. Brigadier General Moti Baruch was appointed to lead the second government investigation, which was to focus on incidents that appeared to require inquiry.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:02 (CET).