Palestinians seek Gaza war crimes justice

The Palestinians on Wednesday warned Israel they will seek justice for war crimes, allegedly committed during last winter's Gaza conflict, in the U.N. Security Council and through the International Criminal Court.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer, urged the General Assembly to support a resolution, stemming from a report by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, that calls on Israel and the Palestinians to carry out independent investigations of human rights violations.

Mansour also insisted Israel's "aggressions and crimes" cannot be equated "with actions committed in response by the Palestinian side."

Stressing that "peace cannot be achieved without justice," Mansour said: "We are determined to follow up this report and its recommendations in all relevant international forums, including the Security Council and the International Criminal Court, until the realization of justice."

But Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev warned that "the Goldstone report and this debate do not promote peace - they damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our region."

Goldstone's report recommended the Security Council require both sides to carry out credible investigations into alleged abuses during the conflict - in which 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed, and thousands wounded - and to follow that up with action in their courts.

If either side refuses, the investigators recommended the Security Council refer the evidence for prosecution by the International Criminal Court, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.

The Security Council, however, is highly unlikely to take any action.

The United States has repeatedly said the report belongs in the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, which appointed the Goldstone panel. Diplomats said Russia and China also don't want the Security Council dealing with human rights issues. All three countries have veto power in the Security Council.

The International Criminal Court can only investigate crimes on the territory of nations that recognize its jurisdiction, unless a case is referred to it by the Security Council.

The Palestinian Authority recognized the court in January and urged prosecutors to launch an investigation into crimes committed during the Gaza conflict, but prosecutors are investigating whether this is possible since there is no state of Palestine.

Israel's Shalev said the report ignored "the reality of terror" from the 12,000 rockets and mortars fired by Hamas militants from Gaza into southern Israel - "and the complexity of military challenges in fighting terrorists in urban warfare."

She dismissed the Goldstone panel as "a politicized body with predetermined conclusions."

"Time and again," Shalev said, "the report inverts Israel's unprecedented extensive efforts to save civilian lives as proof that any civilian casualties were therefore deliberate."

The report and the Palestinian-backed resolution received strong support from virtually all the speakers who addressed the assembly Wednesday. The meeting was scheduled to resume Thursday morning.

The Goldstone report concluded that Israel used disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians, using Palestinians as human shields, and destroying civilian infrastructure during the incursion to root out Palestinian rocket squads.

It accused Palestinian armed groups of deliberately targeting civilians and trying to spread terror through its rocket attacks on southern Israel. Hamas, the main rival to the Palestinian Authority which Mansour represents, controls Gaza and most armed groups in the territory.

The Goldstone panel accused both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity and called for independent and credible investigations by the Israelis and the Palestinian side within three months.

The draft resolution asks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report to the General Assembly, within three months, on implementation "with a view to considering further action, if necessary, by the relevant United Nations organs and bodies."

Mansour predicted the resolution will "absolutely" be approved.