MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has censored a radio clip naming children killed in Gaza, due to its "politically controversial" content, Haaretz reported Thursday.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which prepared the censored broadcast, appealed against the decision but the IBA once again refused to run the clip.
According to Haaretz, the broadcast reveals the fact that children have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s Protective Edge operation began 17 days ago, reading out some of their names.
"So far more than 600 people have been killed in bombings in Gaza, more than 150 of them children. But apart from a brief report on the number of fatalities, the Israeli media refrains from covering them," B’Tselem said in a statement cited by Haaretz.
The human rights watchdog plans to petition Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday in an effort to lift the ban, the Guardian reports.
Earlier on July 23, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) announced its readiness to establish a designated commission to investigate into human rights violations in the Gaza Strip related to the military operations conducted since June 13, 2014.
The commission will seek “to establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes perpetrated and to identify those responsible."
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8, 2014, with the alleged objective to prevent Hamas militants from firing rockets from Gaza.
On July 17, following days of fighting, the Israeli military switched to a ground invasion aimed at destroying underground tunnels dug by rebels used to secretly enter Israeli territory.
On Sunday, Israel announced it was expanding its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip following days of shelling and aerial bombardment.
Israel claims it is waging a targeted military campaign, while human rights groups record an increasing number of civilian deaths.
According to Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization based in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s operation and ground invasion into the Gaza Strip has already killed at least 597 Palestinians, including 152 children and 82 women. 150,000 people have been displaced and at least 3,143 houses have been destroyed.
According to statements released over the past two days by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Palestinian death toll is reaching 700, with one child being killed every hour in recent days.
