Rights bodies denounce killings of Palestinians at Gaza border

Israeli forces faced accusations of committing war crimes and using "disproportionate force" against Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza on the deadliest day of cross-border violence since a devastating 2014 war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

Amnesty International condemned the use of "excessive force" by Israeli forces on Monday and said in some instances they appeared to be "committing what appear to be willful killings constituting war crimes", according to the Middle East Eye.

"Those responsible for outrageous human rights violations must be held to account," said Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch described the killings as a "bloodbath".

Israeli authorities' policy of firing at protesters irrespective of whether there was an immediate threat to life had resulted in a "bloodbath that anyone could have foreseen", said Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch's executive director for the Middle East and North Africa, according to the Middle East Eye.

Earlier in a statement, the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed that it was “gravely concerned” that many of those killed or injured during weeks of protests were reportedly posing no imminent threat when they were shot.

According to the Middle East Eye, the statement which was dated May 8, but published by the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, also called on Israel to “fully respect the norms of humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip”.

It called on Israel to "put an immediate end to the disproportionate use of force against Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip, refrain from any act that could lead to further casualties and ensure prompt and unimpeded access to medical treatment to injured Palestinians".