The Islamic Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas welcomed on Thursday the UN report that found Israeli occupation killing of protesters in Gaza may amount to war crimes.

An inquiry conducted by the UN Human Rights Council found that the Israeli occupation forces had “killed and maimed Palestinian demonstrators who did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to others when they were shot, nor were they directly participating in hostilities.”

Commenting on the findings of the inquiry, Chairman of the UN commission Santiago Canton said that it had “reasonable grounds to believe” that Israeli soldier “committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

He also said, “Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity, and must be immediately investigated by Israel.”

Since March 30, 2018, the Palestinians in Gaza have been organising weekly protests along the eastern fence of the Gaza Strip, calling for the 12-year-old Israeli siege imposed on the coastal enclave to be lifted.