UN commission on Gaza war meets in Geneva

The UN Human Rights Council commission of inquiry, which recently published a report on last summer’s Gaza conflict, presents its findings in detail to a committee in Geneva.

Commission chairperson Mary McGowan Davis says during the presentation that the fact Israel had not changed its policies in light of information on the number of fatalities and damage in the Gaza Strip raises concerns about the conduct of top Israeli officials, according to Army Radio. She repeats that Israel may have committed war crimes during the 50-day war.

Davis also stresses that Hamas is not free of responsibility for the conflict’s deadly outcome, as the group had intentionally fired rockets at Israeli civilian centers, and had dug attack tunnels leading from across the border into Israeli territory. She notes that missiles were fired at Israel from populated areas in Gaza, thus endangering Palestinian lives.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Evyatar Manor, stressed earlier today that Israel decided not to cooperate with the committee, as it had singled the Jewish state out and had presented a clear bias in its report.

Several Israeli residents of communities bordering the Gaza Strip are taking part in protests outside the Geneva hall where the commission is meeting. The demonstrators tell Army Radio that they are protesting the report did not place the blame for the conflict on Hamas, which, they said, had for years fired rockets on Israeli civilians and had thus made life in towns near the Gaza Strip unbearable.