Human Rights Watch said on Sunday that Israel has failed to properly investigate crimes committed during last winter’s genocidal Gaza war as demanded by the United Nations.

“Israel claims it is conducting credible and impartial investigations, but it has so far failed to make that case,” said Joe Stork, HRW’s New York-based group’s deputy director for the Middle East.

“An independent investigation is crucial to understand why so many civilians died and to bring justice for the victims of unlawful attacks,” Stork said in a statement.

About 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the 22-day genocidal onslaught launched by Israel on December 27, 2008, aimed at halting almost harmless rocket attacks from the Islamist Hamas-ruled enclave.

The UN General Assembly in November called on Israel and Palestinian armed groups to investigate alleged war crimes detailed in a UN report by the respected former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

But UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that he had not yet determined whether both sides had adequately probed the accusations.

Last Friday, the UN chief received a 46-page report from Israel in which it denied violating international law but admitted “tragic results” due to the “complexity and scale” of fighting in heavily populated areas.

In his report, Ban highlighted Israel’s assertion that two of its senior officers — a brigadier general and a colonel — were disciplined for the firing of white phosphorous shells toward a UN compound during the war.

Also on Friday, the UN secretary general was handed a preliminary report from the Palestinian side in which it said a commission had been set up to look into allegations that Palestinian militants committed war crimes.

Hamas also carried out an investigation into the conflict, and has previously absolved its freedom fighters of any wrongdoing, saying they did not deliberately target civilians.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military arrested two foreign activists in a pre-dawn raid in the occupied West Bank on Sunday that a pro-Palestinian group said was aimed at intimidating protesters.

The arrests follow a similar raid last month in which a Czech activist was detained and deported, and come amid heightened efforts to curtail Palestinian protests in the West Bank that are supported by foreigners and Israelis.

The Israeli military said the two were arrested for “staying in Israel illegally” and transferred to the custody of the interior ministry.

“One of them was holding fake documents and the other’s visa had expired,” a military spokesman said, without providing further details.

“Both of them were known to be involved in illegal violence,” he added, referring to their participation in West Bank demonstrations against Israel’s illegal separation barrier. Neta Golan, an Israeli co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), admitted the two had overstayed their tourist visas but insisted their arrest was aimed at curbing protests against Israeli policies.

In a related development, a senior Saudi diplomat said on Sunday his handshake with Israel’s deputy foreign minister at a Munich security conference was no step toward recognition of the Jewish state.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the country’s former intelligence chief and ex-ambassador to the United States, said his handshake on Saturday with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon only came after Ayalon apologised for actions that Turki objected to. “This event should not be taken out of context or misunderstood,” Turki said in a statement received in Riyadh.

“My strong objections and condemnations of Israel’s policies and actions against the Palestinians remain unchanged.

“It is clear that Israel’s Arab neighbours want peace, but they cannot be expected to tolerate what amounts to theft, and certainly should not be pressured into rewarding Israel for the return of land that does not belong to it in the first place,” Turki said. “Until Israel heeds US President Barak Obama’s call for the removal of all settlements, the Israelis must be under no illusion that Saudi Arabia will offer what they most desire — regional recognition.”

Date : 08/02/2010. News by Newsofap.com