A/HRC/43/21 individuals. 64 As emphasized by the commission of inquiry, such examples of behaviour cannot in themselves lawfully trigger the use of lethal force under the law enforcement paradigm as framed under international law, unless the victim is simultaneously posing an imminent threat to life or serious injury.65 35. Conflicting media reports emerged in July and August 2019 on whether the open-fire regulations employed by the Israel Defense Forces along the Israel-Gaza fence were amended during the reporting period to ensure that soldiers would primarily shoot below the knee and fine-tune the regulations to shooting at the ankle after it emerged in many cases that firing at the lower limbs above the knee led to death.66 In a letter addressed to ACRI in August 2019, the Military Advocate General denied that any change or revision of the instructions provided to soldiers at the fence had occurred since the beginning of the large-scale demonstrations in March 2018.67 While the Israel Defense Forces have not expressed any official position on the matter, OHCHR findings continue to suggest the persistence of live ammunition injuries to the upper limbs, including the torso and the head, among casualties at the fence, in certain cases leading to fatalities.68 Such persistence does not appear to support the notion that any change has been made to the regulations of the Israeli security forces or to manner of their implementation. In addition, no change in the rules of engagement has been reported to prohibit the authorization of lethal force against “key instigators” or “key rioters” as a status. Civil remedies 36. As highlighted in previous reports of the High Commissioner, Palestinians residing in Gaza face significant barriers that impede or prevent them from seeking civil remedies to pursue accountability for alleged violations. 69 The reporting period did not witness any amendment to the 2014 clause excluding the Gaza population (as residents of an “enemy territory”) from the scope of Israeli civil liability legislation. The applicability of such a clause has exempted the State from liability for wrongful acts committed by the Israel Defense Forces since the 2014 escalation.70 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 In particular, reference is made to the following actions: coordinating the tactical placement and setting on fire of tyres; coordinating people to contribute towards pulling back parts of the security infrastructure; moving through the crowd while talking into a radio; pulling wires attached to part of the security infrastructure (barbed wire coils), together with a group of people; inciting a mob, influencing the behaviour of those in the mob or providing the conditions for mass breaches or infiltrations to occur; and connecting wires to the security infrastructure (i.e., barbed wire coils placed by the Israel Defense Forces inside Gaza) so that it may be pulled backwards. See Israel Defense Forces, “Gaza border events”, pp. 84–85. See also A/HRC/40/CRP.2, para. 315. A/HRC/40/CRP.2, para. 316. www.btselem.org/press_releases/20190724_military_admits_to_killing_protestors _for_no_reason, www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5569938,00.html and www.haaretz.com/israelnews/.premium-israel-takes-tactical-risk-in-gaza-to-serve-a-strategic-goal-1.7866444. Letter dated 15 August 2019 from the Military Advocate General to ACRI. The Israel Defense Forces stressed that there had been additional restrictions imposed on the use of force over and above what was authorized by the standard operating procedures, but that this had not required any changes to the standard operating procedures (Israel Defense Forces, “Gaza border events”, p. 66). See also www.idf.il/en/minisites/questions-and-answers-concerning-the-violent-riots-and-attacks-occurringon-the-border-between-gaza-and-israel-during-2018-9/. On 26 July 2019, a 22-year-old demonstrator was shot dead with live ammunition to his abdomen, east of Khuza’a; on 31 August 2019, a 22-year-old demonstrator was pronounced dead after being shot in the head with live ammunition the day before, also east of Khuza’a; on 6 September 2019, a 14-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy died after being shot by live ammunition to their waist and neck at Malaka and Abu Safia demonstration sites; and, on 4 October 2019, a 28-year-old demonstrator was hit by live ammunition to his chest at Abu Safia demonstration site and was pronounced dead later on the same day, upon arrival at the hospital. See, in particular, A/HRC/37/41, para. 15, and A/HRC/40/43, paras. 25–26. See also A/71/364, paras. 40 and 56–57. A/71/364, paras. 56–57. See Government of Israel decree of 26 October 2014 declaring the Gaza strip “enemy territory”, valid retroactively from 7 July 2014, thereby activating the exemption from damages to “persons who are not citizens or residents of Israel, and are residents of a territory outside Israel that has been declared an ‘enemy territory’ in a governmental decree”. On 3 February 2019, an 11