Ramallah: The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem has strongly criticised the slow and cumbersome performance of the Israeli Military Police Investigation Unit (MPIU) that investigates fatalities in the West Bank.

According to 2013 statistics released by B’Tsalem on Tuesday, Israeli occupation security forces have killed 27 Palestinians in the West Bank in 21 separate incidents and nine Palestinians in seven incidents in the Gaza Strip. The group said that three times as many people were killed in the West Bank in 2013 than were killed in 2012.

According to its director Jessica Montell, it takes years before decisions are made about deaths.

“The slow and cumbersome investigative mechanism, in which practically no one is held accountable for the killing of a Palestinian, does not serve as a deterrent and indicates disregard for human life,” she said.

“The sharp rise in fatalities in the West Bank only serves to intensify concern about the lack of accountability,” Montell said. “MPIU investigations are now launched almost automatically, yet the essence of the investigation mechanism remains unchanged.”

B’Tselem said that in the two years and eight months since the new investigative policy of the MAG Corps came into effect, 35 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers in 28 separate incidents.

The MPIU launched an investigation into 23 of these fatalities (which occurred in 19 incidents), but the MAG Corps, the Military Advocate General Corps for the Israeli, which is tasked with ensuring that the military adheres to Israeli and international law, has made a decision in only five of those incidents.

In one incident, a decision was made to not launch an investigation. In three other cases, the investigative files were closed without any actions against individuals involved and in the last incident, a soldier was indicted and then convicted in a plea bargain based on his admissions about the incident.

In 2013, the majority of Palestinian fatalities occurred in the West Bank, said B’Tselem.

In contrast, in 2012, Israeli security forces killed only eight Palestinians in the West Bank and 246 in the Gaza Strip (including 167 during Operation Pillar of Defence), 104 of whom who were not taking part in the hostilities.

Palestinians killed three Israeli civilians in the year 2013, two in the West Bank and one near the Gaza perimeter fence. In 2012, four Israeli civilians in Israel were killed by Palestinians who launched rockets and shells from the Gaza Strip, whereas no Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank.

In both 2012 and 2013, Palestinians killed three Israeli security forces personnel in Israel and the West Bank.