Israel Won’t Cooperate in UN Gaza Probe

Israeli officials announced today that their government will not cooperate with the United Nations investigation into war crimes committed during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The United Nations Human Rights Council intends for former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone to investigate allegations of human rights violations by both sides during the war, which killed 1,417 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, the decision not to cooperate will mean that the government will not even allow members of the UN delegation to enter the country. Any investigators seeking access to the Gaza Strip will have to rely on Egypt, assuming they decide to allow it.

Shortly before the war, the Israeli government detained UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Richard Falk at the Tel Aviv airport, before expelling him from the nation. Israel insisted the Princeton professor’s criticism of the Israeli blockade on Gaza made him “unwelcome” in the nation. Israel had announced a probe of its own into war crimes during the Gaza conflict, but abandoned it after only a few days claiming all allegations were “hearsay.”