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Israel says UN-backed Gaza report inherently biased
Israeli officials responded to yesterday’s publication of a long-anticipated report from a commission appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) into Operation Protective Edge last summer.
The report concluded that both Israel and Hamas may have been responsible for war crimes during the Gaza conflict. Although the report acknowledges that Israel took action to limit civilian casualties during the fighting, it says more might have been done. Hamas is accused of firing indiscriminately at Israeli civilians and carrying out military activities from civilian areas in Gaza. Hamas is also heavily criticised for executing 21 alleged “collaborators” during the conflict.
Israel declined to cooperate with the UNHRC investigation as the commission’s mandate, which Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described as “fundamentally unbalanced” appeared to target Israel. Meanwhile, the UNHRC itself has a track record of hostility towards Israel.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry yesterday published an initial response to the report, reiterating the UNHRC’s inherent bias. It also noted that the commission “lacked the necessary tools and expertise to conduct a professional and serious examination of armed conflict situations” and lamented “that the report fails to recognise the profound difference between Israel’s moral behaviour during Operation Protective Edge and the terror organisations it confronted.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also accused the report of bias, given that the UNHRC, does “everything but protect human rights,” focusing disproportionately on Israel. He also said, “Israel defends itself according to international law and we are not the only ones to say so.”
Israel’s government last week published a 277-page report into the Gaza conflict, documenting a lengthy legal process before attacks were approved and extensive efforts to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilians. At the same time, a multi-national group of former-chiefs of staff, generals and politicians concluded its own investigation into the IDF’s conduct during Operation Protective Edge, finding that “Israel not only met a reasonable international standard of observance of the laws of armed conflict, but in many cases significantly exceeded that standard.”