US Isolated as UN Resolution Condemns Israel War on Gaza

By teleSUR

04 July 15

 

Perpetrators of Gaza war crimes must face prosecution and be stripped of immunity, according to U.N.

he United Nations called on Israel on Friday to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes committed in the 2014 Gaza massacre and cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s investigation.

The U.N. Human Rights Council voted to adopt a resolution applying a recent U.N. report condemning Israel and the Palestinian liberation group Hamas over war crimes committed last year in Gaza. It also called for an end to the impunity of Israeli officials responsible for the 2014 massacre.

Only Israel’s closest ally, the United States, voted against the resolution while 41 countries voted in favor. India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Macedonia abstained.

All European Union member states of the Council, including Britain, France and Germany, voted in favor of the resolution and labeled Israel’s alleged self-defense assault on Gaza ‘disproportionate.’

According to Haaretz, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu slammed the resolution, saying the UNHRC is neither interested "in facts nor in true human rights."

"Israel is the most stable democracy in the Middle East," Netanyahu added, "ensuring equal rights to all of its citizens and operating in accordance to international law.”

The U.N report however, found that 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed, including 299 women and 551 children while thousands more were injured in last year’s Gaza attacks.

Alongside the shocking death toll, the document also talks about the enormous destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Some international agencies have calculated that the reconstruction of the enclave may take more than 100 years, due to the Israeli blockade. In this regard, the commission says the impact of the 2014 attacks "cannot be assessed separately from the blockade."

The Council has no binding powers, but its moral authority could pressure Israel to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable.

The resolution, which was drafted by Palestinian and other Arab officials, called on all UN officials to implement the report's recommendations and guarantee the application of international law in Palestine.