Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday blasted as “outrageous” and “one-sided” a UN inquiry that blamed Israel for six serious attacks on UN buildings during its Gaza offensive.
“It’s outrageous, we shall never accept it [the report],” he told reporters after conferring with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “We don’t think we have to apologize because we have the right to defend the lives of our children and women.”
Peres said the UN board of inquiry overstepped its authority, noting that it was supposed to probe damage to UN installations but “instead decided to investigate the whole situation in Gaza.”
“We don’t accept one word,” he said, slamming the conclusions as “unfair” and “one-sided.”
But he appeared to exonerate Ban, saying he had the “highest regard” for him.
“The [UN] secretary-general is not responsible for the report,” Peres said. “He tried to distinguish between what is necessary in order to be objective and fair, and listen to us.”
The Israeli president insisted that his country has cooperated fully with the UN inquiry team and conceded that “we made some mistakes.”
The UN report was drawn up by an independent panel set up to investigate nine cases in which UN buildings in Gaza were damaged by bombardments or arms fire during the three-week Israeli offensive.
The findings laid out the latest criticism of Israel over the war it launched against the Hamas-run enclave on Dec. 27 in response to ongoing rocket fire from Gaza militants. More than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died.
“In six of the nine incidents, the board concluded that the death, injuries and damage involved were caused by military actions, using munitions launched or dropped from the air or fired from the ground by the Israel Defense Forces [IDF],” the report said.
A seventh less serious incident was also blamed on Israeli light arms fire during the offensive, while the eighth was attributed to a Palestinian faction, probably Hamas.
The probe by the UN panel, however, could not determine who was to blame for the ninth incident.
The report accused Israel of failing to protect UN buildings and the civilians inside them, and recommended that the UN seek damages.
Peres, meanwhile, was also asked whether the Jewish state under the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was still committed to a “two-state solution” under which a viable Palestinian state would be created alongside a secure Israel.
Peres made clear that the current government would respect the decisions made by the previous government.
“The previous government of Israel took the decision to accept the road map that was introduced by the [Middle East diplomatic] Quartet,” he said. “In the road map, there is a clear reference to the two-state solution and that is my answer.”
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