Written by Adalah on behalf of Al Haq, PCHR and Adalah:

On 8 December 2011, the Israeli Supreme Court by a panel of three justices, Chief Justice Beinisch and Justices Rubinstein and Melcer, rejected a petition submitted by Adalah, in cooperation with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al-Haq (jointly referred to as the “petitioners”). 0F 1 The petition demanded that the Israeli authorities open a criminal investigation into the killings and injury of civilians and into the extensive damage to homes in the Gaza Strip in 2004. The loss of life and damage to property occurred during the Israeli army’s military Operations ‘Rainbow’ and ‘Days of Penitence’, both of which took place before Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. The Supreme Court rejected the case mainly on two grounds: generality of the petition; and delay in submission to the court.