A/HRC/31/40 508 incidents in which IDF used live ammunition at the Israel-Gaza fence, and 316 at sea, as well as 9 incidents of Palestinians shooting at Israelis. 22. As protests spread into Gaza in October 2015, there were several instances suggesting the unwarranted use of live ammunition against demonstrators near the IsraelGaza fence, killing at least 13 people according to OHCHR. In addition, conservative estimates by NGOs and local health authorities indicate that at least 350 people were injured by live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets in October 2015 alone. Nine of the deaths and at least 60 gunshot injuries took place on 9 and 10 October when IDF fired at protestors in Al-Shuja’iya in eastern Gaza City and in the Al-Faraheen area in the eastern Khan Younis. Shots appeared to have been fired at the upper body and heads of protesters, although witnesses say that there was no imminent threat to life or serious injury to soldiers who were positioned in towers, armoured vehicles or behind dirt-mounds, on the other side of the fence. 23. An 18-year old was among those killed on 9 October. Witnesses told OHCHR that he and a small group of friends were peacefully protesting and chanting approximately 150 metres from the fence in the Khan Younis area. A video of the incident shows that some young men had burned a tyre when Israeli forces shot teargas canisters in their direction. According to the witnesses, the victim was hit shortly after that; medical documents show that he was killed by a single shot in the back, which lacerated his heart. The use of live ammunition in such circumstances was unwarranted, as neither he nor other nearby demonstrators posed any imminent threat. 24. Reportedly, IDF subsequently shifted its practice to use more tear gas, warning shots and shots to the legs.15 Nonetheless, unwarranted use of live ammunition continued, including in at least five incidents documented by OHCHR where peaceful protesters carrying Palestinian flags were shot and wounded. 25. The extensive, often unwarranted, use of firearms by Israeli security forces in law enforcement operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly since September 2015, raises serious questions as to whether the rules of engagement, which are confidential, are in compliance with international law and whether such rules are adhered to in practice. Documented instances of soldiers shooting at persons attempting to evacuate the wounded raise similar concerns. 26. Concerns also extend to instances of excessive force through the use of less lethal weapons, such as rubber-coated metal bullets, particularly when they appear to have been fired in contravention of the regulations of the Israeli security forces, which forbid their use at a range of less than 50 metres.16 The regulations further restrict their use to firing at the legs of “inciters, key disrupters of order or individuals endangering the well-being of a soldier or another individual”, and prohibit their use against women and children. 17 However, the inherent imprecision of rubber-coated metal bullets in use — fired as a pack of three cylinders or a canister of pellets — renders such safeguards largely meaningless and invariably causes ostensibly unintended casualties. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, two Palestinians are reported to have been killed and 2,623 injured by rubber-coated metal bullets in the reporting period.18 15 16 17 18 6 “Southern Command attempts to contain border clashes without use of live fire”, Jerusalem Post, 13 October 2015. B’tselem, “Crowd Control Report”, p. 22. Ibid., p. 23. This includes black sponge-tipped plastic bullets used instead of rubber-coated metal bullets in East Jerusalem.