Israel blocked a visit to the Palestinian territories by a UN rights envoy last week, an official says Monday, just ahead of the publication of a United Nations report on last year’s Gaza war.
It was the second time Makarim Wibisono, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, had been barred entry.
“We didn’t allow this visit,” which was to take place last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tells AFP.
“Israel cooperates with all the international commissions and all (UN) rapporteurs, except when the mandate handed to them is anti-Israeli and Israel has no chance to make itself heard.”
The UN Human Rights Council, to which Wibisono reports, has been conducting an investigation into the actions of both Israel and Palestinian militants during last year’s conflict.
While Wibisono reports to the council, his visit was for a separate, annual assessment in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Israel barred him from entering last year for a similar visit.
— AFP
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