Israel rejected outright a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution creating a commission of inquiry in response to accusations of war crimes.
It’s the first time the UNHRC created a permanent fact-finding commission against a UN member state.
“Today’s shameful decision is yet another example of the UN Human Rights Council’s blatant anti-Israel obsession. Once again, an immoral automatic majority at the Council whitewashes a genocidal terrorist organization that deliberately targets Israeli civilians while turning Gaza’s civilians into human shields,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
“This while depicting as the ‘guilty party’ a democracy acting legitimately to protect its citizens from thousands of indiscriminate rocket attacks. This travesty makes a mockery of international law and encourages terrorists worldwide,” Netanyahu added.
The resolution comes just a week after Israel’s 11-day war with Hamas. Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched more than 4,300 rockets at Israeli civilians, with some 680 falling short and landing inside Gaza.
Twelve Israelis died from the attacks, while around 254 Palestinians died, among them 66 children from precision Israeli strikes against terrorist facilities and infrastructure. Israel says most of those killed were terrorists and many of the civilians killed in Gaza were from the terrorists’ own rockets.
The actual resolution does not mention Israel or Hamas but talks about those who break international law. It was submitted by the Palestinian Authority and Pakistan on behalf of Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
The United States said the vote was “deeply unfortunate” at a time when “we and others have been working to uphold and strengthen the ceasefire, ensure humanitarian assistance to Gaza.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it would not cooperate with the investigation.
“Any resolution that fails to condemn the firing of over 4300 rockets by a terror organization at Israeli civilians, or even to mention the terror organization Hamas, is nothing more than a moral failure and a stain on the international community and the UN,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It said the resolution ignored the fact that Israel acted “with the highest ethical standards” and Hamas committed a “double war crime” by firing at Israeli civilians from inside Gaza’s civilian population.
It said the purpose of the Commission of Inquiry had been “to whitewash crimes committed by the terror organization Hamas, and to incriminate Israel’s actions to defend itself and its population.”
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin said the UNHRC was listening to the wrong voices.
“The world turned upside down. Instead of hearing the free world speak out clearly against terror organization Hamas and its leaders, clear examples of war criminals, the UN Human Rights Council makes an inexplicable decision against Israeli citizens who faced the criminal fire of thousands of missiles against innocent civilians,” Rivlin said.
“Even after these mistaken and unacceptable decisions, Israel will continue to be committed – always and before everything else – to the security of its citizens and ensuring their safety,” he added.
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