A/HRC/43/21 17. The absence of any significant progress in the investigation of and prosecution for alleged violations confirms the serious concerns previously expressed by the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General regarding the consistent failure of the Israeli Military Advocate General to open criminal investigations in cases of alleged violations of international humanitarian law, including possible war crimes, committed by Israeli security forces in the context of hostilities.28 18. In relation to more recent escalations, on 19 December 2018 the Israel Defense Forces publicly reported that the Military Advocate General had opened an investigation into the killing of two Palestinian children by an Israeli airstrike on 14 July 2018. 29 On that day, the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes targeting a vacant building belonging to the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, located in Al Katiba yard, in Gaza City, killing two 14-year-old boys and injuring 23 others.30 Israel alleged that the building was being used for militant activity. According to the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, an internal military investigation had showed that “at the time of the [missile] fire, no people were spotted on the roof of the building”.31 This announcement followed the publication of an independent investigation into the case by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem and the international nongovernmental organization Forensic Architecture, which found that the sequence of video footage of the attacks initially published through the Twitter account of the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson had been edited in relation to the first fatal strike, in an alleged attempt to obscure the unlawful nature of the strike. 32 19. As also underlined by the High Commissioner in previous reports,33 no information was made available on steps taken to ensure accountability for possible international humanitarian law violations, including possible war crimes, committed by the Palestinian authorities and armed groups in the context of the different rounds of hostilities, as identified by the commission of inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict and, before that, by the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.34 Such lack of accountability remains of the gravest concern. B. Accountability for unlawful use of force 20. Impunity continues to prevail also in relation to incidents of possible excessive use of force by Israeli security forces outside the context of hostilities, confirming a worrying trend that has been repeatedly highlighted by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner.35 The lack of progress in the investigations related to the widespread use of lethal force by the Israeli security forces in the context of the Great March of Return extends this unacceptable trend. 21. In February 2019, prior to the release of the report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Israel Defense Forces published a document intended to provide information on the nature of the events related to the Great March of Return protests and on the response by the Forces. In large part, the document echoes the position of the Government of Israel expressed in its response to the 2018 Supreme Court petition on the open-fire policy.36 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 6 A/HRC/35/19, para. 18, A/HRC/37/41, para. 14, A/HRC/40/43, para. 8, and A/71/364, para. 40. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-probing-death-of-two-palestinian-teens-in-gaza-warning-missilestrike-1.6762293. See also A/HRC/40/39, para. 15. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-probing-death-of-two-palestinian-teens-in-gaza-warning-missilestrike-1.6762293. www.btselem.org/video/201812_lethal_warning#full. See, in particular, A/HRC/37/41, para. 17, and A/HRC/40/43, para. 13. A/HRC/29/52 and A/HRC/12/48 and Corr.1. See, for instance, A/HRC/34/38, paras. 43–44, A/HRC/35/19, paras. 17–18, and A/71/364, para. 66. www.idf.il/media/48315/petition-gaza-border-events-summary-of-state-position.pdf and https://s3-euwest-1.amazonaws.com/files.yesh-din.org/Gaza+Fire+Regulations+Petition/State+ response+Gaza+petition.pdf (in Hebrew only).