Israel committed war crimes by deliberately targeting civilians, carrying out torture, and firing white phosphorus shells during its offensive in Gaza eight months ago, a UN investigation has found.
The inquiry, led by the former South African judge Richard Goldstone, concluded that both the Israeli army and Hamas committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the three-week conflict, in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
However, Israel received the most serious condemnation for its policy towards the Palestinians of Gaza, describing "a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate, and terrorise a civilian population".
The 575 page report, released last night, rejected Israel's claim that the war was an act of self-defence, in response to Palestinian rocket fire. It outlined "grave breaches" of the fourth Geneva convention, including willful killing and torture.
The inquiry said that some Israelis should face "individual criminal responsibility", and said that Israel should be required to investigate the allegations raise. If it fails to do so, it recommends that the case be passed to the prosecutor of the international criminal court.
Israel refused to co-operate, arguing that the UN human rights council is biased against Israel. The Israeli foreign ministry said: "Both the mandate of the mission and the resolution establishing it prejudged the outcome of any investigation, gave legitimacy to the Hamas terrorist organisation and disregarded the deliberate Hamas strategy of using Palestinian civilians as cover for launching terrorist attacks."
Goldstone, who is Jewish and has strong links with Israel, is one of the world's leading war crime investigators, and has previously prosecuted war crimes in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. He said: "There should be no impunity for international crimes that are committed. It's very important that justice should be done."
The European Union has also failed to endorse the investigation, as have some other western powers who sit on the UN's human rights council. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned this failure to support the inquiry.
