Israel submitted its response on Friday to a UN report that accused it of deliberately targeting civilians during last year’s Gaza offensive, but an Israeli spokesman sidestepped a key UN demand for an independent commission to investigate war crimes allegations.
UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Israel’s 46-page document had been received at UN headquarters and would be considered in a report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the General Assembly early next month.
“The secretary-general is working on his own response,” Haq said.
The document, later released by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was Israel’s official response to a UN investigative report published in September. The report, which had been requested by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, was put together by an expert panel headed by respected South African jurist Richard Goldstone. The panel’s 575-page document based on its fact-finding mission accused both Israel and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes during last winter’s Gaza fighting.
“Israel is committed to ensuring that every such incident is fully and fairly investigated, to ensure that lessons can be learned and that, if justified, criminal or disciplinary proceedings initiated,” the Israeli government said in its submission to the UN on Friday, titled Gaza Operation Investigations: An Update.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, said on Friday that the Palestinian leadership also provided Ban’s chief of staff with its response to the UN panel’s investigation, including a preliminary report by a Palestinian commission established just days ago.
“There is no symmetry between the occupying power, Israel, and their criminal actions, including war crimes against our people, and any acts that may have been committed by the Palestinian side, those who live under occupation,” Mansour said.
In November, the General Assembly endorsed the Goldstone report, urged Israel and the Palestinians to investigate alleged war crimes in Gaza and raised the possibility of Security Council action if they don’t. The assembly approved an Arab-drafted resolution insisting there must be some accountability, especially from Israel, for alleged violations of international law during the Gaza conflict in which 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including many civilians.
Action by the Security Council, where the US has veto power, is considered unlikely.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a tree-planting ceremony for the Jewish arbor day that Israel’s submission to the UN on Friday “emphasizes again the fact that the Israeli military acts responsibly, ethically, morally and precisely even under the most impossible conditions.”
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the response defends Israel’s investigations of last year’s Gaza war, but does not address the international body’s key demand — the creation of an independent commission of inquiry.
“Our response includes a description of the Israeli legal system, the fact that it is responsible and independent and acts in accordance with international law, how it operates and why it can be trusted,” he said.
The decision to establish a commission of inquiry must be made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said.
Israel’s government has long rejected such a move, which is seen in Jerusalem as justifying allegations many Israelis see as unfair. But there have been rising calls inside Israel for an independent inquiry, even if just to prove that the allegations made in the report are false.
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