A/HRC/40/74 111. To date, the Government of Israel has consistently failed to meaningfully investigate and prosecute commanders and soldiers for crimes and violations committed against Palestinians or to provide reparation to victims in accordance with international norms. Scarce accountability measures arising out of Operations Cast Lead and Protective Edge and public comments by high-ranking public officials cast doubt over the State’s willingness to scrutinize the actions of military and civilian leadership who drafted, approved and supervised the implementation of the rules of engagement governing the actions of Israeli forces at the demonstrations. 112. Strikingly, the right of Gazan victims to equal access to reparation is currently being hampered. Israeli law and recent jurisprudence bar them from access to remedies in Israeli courts, irrespective of the merits of their claims for damages, on the grounds that Gazans are from “hostile” territory. The commission is not aware of any alternative mechanism employed by Israel to compensate Palestinian victims for damage caused unlawfully by the security forces. It notes with concern that the Government of Israel recently announced new measures withholding Palestinian clearance tax revenue to an amount equal to that of payments made by the Palestinian Authority to those injured or to the families of those killed. The Government also expressed its intention to increase the sum of withheld funds in the light of the damage caused by incendiary kites and balloons to the crops of Israeli farmers. XI. Individual criminal responsibility 113. Certain violations of international law attract individual criminal responsibility and are prosecutable in both domestic and international courts. 114. During armed conflict or occupation, international humanitarian law prohibits, inter alia, wilful killing and wilfully causing great suffering. Unless undertaken lawfully in selfdefence, intentionally killing a civilian not directly participating in hostilities is a war crime. The commission found reasonable grounds to believe that individual members of the Israeli security forces, in the course of their response to the demonstrations, killed and gravely injured civilians who were neither directly participating in hostilities nor posing an imminent threat. 115. If committed in the context of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy, serious human rights violations may also constitute crimes against humanity. Murder and “other inhumane acts” that cause great suffering or serious injury qualify as such violations. In the course of the investigation, the commission found serious human rights violations that may constitute crimes against humanity. 116. Civilian and military leaders bear responsibility for international crimes they commit directly, but also as commanders where they exert effective control over subordinates, knew or should have known about subordinates’ crimes, and failed to prevent or repress their commission or to submit them for investigation and prosecution. 117. The commission is aware of an ongoing preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court of alleged crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since 13 June 2014, and requests the High Commissioner to refer the present report and relevant information upon which it is based to the Office of the Prosecutor. XII. Recommendations A. Realization of the human rights of civilians on both sides 118. The commission calls upon all duty bearers to implement fully previous recommendations made by United Nations human rights and fact-finding bodies. It also calls upon States Members of the United Nations to promote compliance with 21