of alleged war crimes in the Gaza war, as the Human Rights Council today considers condemning Israel. Reuters: U.N. rights body considers condemning Israel on Gaza:
ENEVA (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders should launch investigations of alleged war crimes in Gaza to help rebuild trust and support peace, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday.
At the opening of a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting on the issue, Navi Pillay said that all sides of the Middle East conflict were continuing to violate international law and voiced concern that transgressors are being left unpunished.
"A culture of impunity continues to prevail in the occupied territories and in Israel," she told the 47-member body, calling for "impartial, independent, prompt and effective investigations into reported violations of human rights and humanitarian law."
The condemnation, to be considered by the UN Human Rights Council in a meeting that will stretch to Friday, would according to this Reuters report be for Israel's failure to cooperate with Justice Goldstone's commission that investigated allegations of war crimes by both sides in the Gaza war.
Ha'aretz reports that the Human Rights Council will be considering at this meeting a resolution that would endorse the Goldstone Report's referral of the matter to the Security Council: Ha'aretz: UN human rights chief endorses Goldstone Gaza report:
The council is debating a resolution that would endorse the Goldstone report's recommendation for the Security Council in New York to determine within six months whether both sides are carrying out credible investigations into alleged abuses. If they aren't, the matter should then be referred to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
The draft resolution suggests UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should also monitor Israeli and Palestinian compliance with the report. A vote is expected Friday.
This is more likely to be the same resolution Reuters reports on than a different one.
In the meantime, the Hamas-run government of Gaza has agreed to conduct an investigation of war crimes committed by its side. Ma'an: Gaza government vows to probe war crimes charges:
ethlehem - Ma’an - "Although we do not agree with certain aspects of his report we intend to act on his recommendation and to carry out our own investigation into any alleged crimes committed by members of the resistant movements in Gaza," a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Gaza Strip said Thursday.
The de facto government in Gaza said it welcomed the news that the "UN Human Rights Council will reopen the debate on the Goldstone report in a special session to be held this week," and reiterated respect for the "fact that Judge Goldstone undertook his mission without bias and in a genuine attempt to establish the facts of what happened in Gaza during the recent war."
While major media outlets around the globe reported Hamas was against the report and refused to comply with its call for investigations into war crimes committed by both Hamas and Israel, the party has in fact maintained a moderate stance on the report.
Meanwhile, at that UNHRC meeting in Geneva, the Israeli representative continued Israel's policy of condemning the Goldstone Commission Report: Israel: Goldstone has Nothing to do with Human Rights:
(IsraelNN.com) Aharon Leshno-Ya'ar, Israel's representative for United Nations insitutions in Geneva, said on Thursday that adopting the Goldstone committee report on Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Hamas-controlled Gaza last winter will be a "prize for terror". The report says Israel, and to a lesser extent Hamas, committed acts that could be defined as "war crimes".
Speaking at the beginning of an emergency meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on the report which it commissioned, Leshno-Yaa'r also said "the political report that was presented here today has no connection to human rights." He added that the aim of the session was for internal political gain for representatives of the Palestinian Authority, and that the council convened to engage in its members favorite subject, Israel bashing.
There is so far no news of Israel responding to pressure from its allies to conduct its own investigation, as the Goldstone Commission Report called for. Ha'aretz: Allies press Israel to investigate Goldstone report findings:
Western allies on Wednesday pressured Israel to launch credible investigations into UN allegations of possible war crimes.
The United States, Britain and France all said Israel should look into findings published last month by the UN mission led by Goldstone.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff said Washington had serious concerns about the report, including what he said was its "unbalanced focus on Israel." But he repeated the U.S. view that Israel should look into it.
"We take the allegations in the report seriously," he told the council. "Israel has the institutions and the ability to carry out serious investigations of these allegations and we encourage it to do so."
It's possible that Israel may eventually decide it has to conduct an investigation. This report indicates there's an internal debate now going on in Israel (although no government figure is quoted as supporting an investigation): Christian Science Monitor: As UN weighs Goldstone report, Israel debates next step.
In the meantime, in other news, Fatah yesterday unilaterally signed the accord with Hamas that Egypt has been brokering between the two Palestinian groups. Fatah 'signs on to Palestinian unity deal':
CAIRO — The Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Thursday presented a signed copy of a proposed Palestinian unity agreement to Egyptian mediators, the party's chief negotiator said.
"I handed over the signed agreement and said what I had to say," Fatah negotiator Azzam Ahmed told AFP.
"Now we are waiting for Hamas's response. Today was the deadline for signing the deal there will be another meeting tonight to study what further steps are to be taken," said Ahmed after emerging from a meeting with Egyptian mediators.
The rival Islamist Hamas movement on Thursday said it had asked for an extension of several days, while also demanding a number of changes to the text of the proposed accord.