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The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Thursday to launch an international investigation into crimes committed during the 11-day conflict between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
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By a vote of 24 states in favor, 9 against, with 14 abstentions, the 47-member forum adopted a resolution brought by the organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations.
“The draft resolution … is therefore adopted,” Nazhat Shameem Khan, Fiji’s ambassador who serves as current president of the Geneva forum, said after an all-day special session.
The US said that it deeply regretted a decision by the UN Human Rights Council to launch an international investigation into crimes that may have been committed in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The action today instead threatens to imperil the progress that has been made,” said the statement issued by the US mission to the UN in Geneva.
The US, which has observer status and no vote at the Geneva forum, did not speak in the all-day special session which adopted a resolution brought by the organization for Islamic Cooperation and the Palestinian delegation to the UN.
Israel rejected and Hamas welcomed a decision on Thursday by the UN Human Rights Council to launch an international investigation into crimes that may have been committed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the country would not cooperate with the probe, deeming it a bid to “whitewash crimes committed by the terror organization Hamas”.
A spokesman for the Palestinian militant group called its actions “legitimate resistance” and urged “immediate steps to punish” Israel.
Read more:
UN appeals for $95 million to help Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank
Israel’s attacks on Gaza may constitute ‘war crimes’: UN rights chief
Germany’s Merkel, Egypt’s Sisi agree Gaza ceasefire must be stabilized
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