B'Tselem campaigns for Israeli snipers to refuse to shoot at Gaza protesters

In anticipation of today's demonstration, Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem earlier this week announced a new campaign urging Israeli soldiers to refuse orders to open fire on unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip.

The campaign, which was titled “Sorry Commander, I cannot shoot”, did not feature in the Israeli national press.

Israeli politician Yair Lapid tweeted on Wednesday that B'Tselem's campaign for Israeli soldiers to refuse shooting orders in Gaza was "a disgrace and a complete moral blindness".

B'Tselem, according to Lapid, "have gone mad".

"Have you considered calling on Hamas to stop sending terrorists to try to break through the border into Israel?" he asked.

On Thursday, Israeli Knesset members and politicians called B'Tselem's campaign "an incitement to refusal", and asked for an investigation into the organisation's work. 

It remained unclear as of Friday whether any soldiers had heeded B'Tselem's call.