A/HRC/12/37 page 7 reported as having stated that a total of 295 Palestinian non-combatants died during the operation, 89 of them under the age of 16 and 49 of them women, the Army added.15 12. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in the course of the military operation, 4 of them in “friendly fire” incidents, and 336 were wounded. In southern Israel, during the operation, 4 Israeli civilians were killed and 182 were injured (ranging from serious injuries to those attributable to shock) due to rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel from Gaza.16 13. In a letter dated 4 May 2009, the Government of Israel provided OHCHR with information regarding five IDF investigations that had been conducted into the conduct of Israeli forces during the hostilities in Gaza, in connection with a number of specific incidents. In each of the investigations, it was concluded that IDF had operated in accordance with international law. Some of the investigations recommended a revision of existing methods and/or further examinations. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit has stated that there is also a central operational IDF investigation of the entire operation being conducted, which will be concluded by June 2009.17 A. Alleged breaches of the principle of distinction and indiscriminate attacks Distinction between civilians and combatants 14. The reports of civilians being attacked by Israeli forces are numerous,18 and some of these have been reported previously by a number of special rapporteurs.19 The present report wishes to highlight, in particular, the following reported cases. 15. On 3 January, in the al Zaytoun area of Gaza City, Israeli soldiers approached a family house and shot the male head of the household while he had both hands in the air and his identity 15 Communication by the IDF Spokesperson, 26 March 2009. 16 An additional 584 persons suffered from shock and anxiety syndrome. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Operation Cast Lead - Israel strikes back against Hamas terror in Gaza”, 21 July 2009. See also Amnesty International, Operation “Cast Lead”, p. 66. 17 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “IDF: Conclusions of investigations into central claims and issues in Operation Cast Lead”, 22 April 2009. 18 See, for instance, Amnesty International, Operation “Cast Lead”; No Safe Place, report of the Independent Fact Finding Committee on Gaza to the League of Arab States, 30 April 2009; B’Tselem: Guidelines for Israel’s Investigation into Operation Cast Lead, position paper, February 2009; and Human Rights Watch, Precisely Wrong: Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles, 30 June 2009. 19 See e.g. A/HRC/10/22.