UN rights council statement called ‘travesty’

Israel harshly condemns a statement made by the United Nations Human Rights Council earlier today accusing Israel of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip and calling for an investigation into its operation there, saying the council’s decision is a “travesty” that should be “rejected by decent people everywhere.”

“Rather than investigate Hamas, which is committing a double war crime by firing rockets at Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians, the HRC calls for an investigation of Israel, which has gone to unprecedented lengths to keep Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way, including by dropping leaflets, making phone falls and sending text messages,” reads a statement from Jerusalem on the matter.

“The HRC should be launching an investigation into Hamas’s decision to turn hospitals into military command centers, use schools as weapons depots and place missile batteries next to playgrounds, private homes and mosques. By failing to condemn Hamas’s systematic use of human shields and by blaming Israel for the deaths that are caused by this grotesque human shields policy, the HRC is sending a message to Hamas and terror organizations everywhere that using civilians as human shields is an effective strategy.”

It adds that “like the investigation that led to the infamous Goldstone report — a report which was ultimately renounced by its own author — this investigation by a kangaroo court is a foregone conclusion.

“The predicable result will be the libeling of Israel and even greater use by Hamas of human shields in the future. Those who will pay the price will be not only Israelis but also Palestinians who Hamas will redouble its efforts to use as human shields in the future.”

— Raphael Ahren