ISRAELI human rights group B’Tselem said yesterday it would no longer participate in fig-leaf investigations of the murders of Palestinians by occupation troops.

B’Tselem executive director Hagai El-Ad said the group would stop pursuing prosecutions of Israel Defence Forces troops for abuses through the military courts because it has lost confidence in them.

“The system’s real function is cover-ups,” he said. Once the group had reached that “painful conclusion,” added Mr El-Ad, “we found it morally unacceptable for us to continue working in the same way.”