UN rights chief backs calls for inquiry over Gaza deaths

BERLIN – The U.N.'s top human rights official says there's "little evidence" that Israel made an effort to minimalize casualties during protests by Palestinians earlier this week and is backing calls for an inquiry.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein spoke Friday to a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council called following a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. Israeli troops firing into Gaza killed nearly 60 Palestinians at mass border protests on Monday.

The session will consider a resolution calling for an "independent, international commission of inquiry."

Zeid said protesters' "actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force."

Israel and the United States have repeatedly accused the council of anti-Israel bias.