GAZA CITY: The UN Human Rights Council yesterday condemned Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and voted to set up a probe into “grave human rights violations by Israeli forces against the Palestinians.” The UN condemnation came amid heavy fighting in the Gaza City suburbs of Eijline, Tuffah and Zeitoun with thousands of Israeli reservists joining the war.
The UN resolution setting up a fact-finding mission was adopted in Geneva despite the lack of Western support. Thirty-three African, Asian, Arab and Latin American countries voted for the resolution. Thirteen mainly European states abstained, while Canada voted against.
The text released by the UN Council “strongly” condemned the Israeli military operation, saying it had “resulted in massive violations” of the human rights of Palestinians. The resolution asked 10 UN experts on human rights and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to investigate the violence in two separate probes.
It also set up an independent, international fact-finding mission to “investigate all violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Israel,” while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was asked to investigate the bombing of UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip.
Medics said dozens of Palestinians were killed in fighting yesterday, bringing the overall toll to 917, including 277 children. At least 4,100 have been wounded. The International Committee of the Red Cross said civilians in Gaza were in an increasingly precarious situation, with their homes too dangerous to live in.
The Israeli Army insisted that all weapons being used in Gaza were within the bounds of international law amid accusations it was using controversial white phosphorus shells. Asked whether the military was using white phosphorus, an army spokesman refused to confirm or deny the claim, saying: “We are only using what is being used by other Western armies. We are not using anything out of the ordinary.”
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Arab foreign ministers would hold emergency talks in Kuwait on Friday to discuss the “continuation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.”
Efforts for a cease-fire continued. Hamas official Osama Hamdan said delegates who held talks in Cairo on Sunday on a truce had returned to Damascus for consultations with the group’s leadership.
Western diplomats said Israeli military plans in the Gaza Strip include the option of retaking a narrow stretch of land that separates the coastal enclave from Egypt to try to prevent Hamas from rearming. They described a ground operation to retake the Philadelphi Corridor and parts of the town of Rafah as one of Israel’s leading “third phase” options if talks over a cease-fire were to founder.
— With input from agencies
