The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday will ask Israel and the Palestinians to launch credible, independent probes of alleged war crimes committed during a conflict in Gaza, as the U.S. House of Representatives condemned the Goldstone Gaza report as "unfair" to Israel.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon meanwhile urged Israel to end its "provocative actions" in east Jerusalem.
The 192-member General Assembly is scheduled to vote on a non-binding text pushed by Arab states that endorses the report calling for investigations "that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards.
The text also asks the U.N. chief to monitor the implementation of the draft resolution and report back to the General Assembly within three months with "a view to considering further action, if necessary, by the relevant U.N. organs and bodies, including by the Security Council."
Goldstone, a South African Jew and respected former international prosecutor, recommended that Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas -- which rules Gaza -- face possible prosecution before the International Criminal Court in The Hague if they fail to conduct credible investigations within six months.
His report was endorsed by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council last month and the U.N. Security Council mentioned it during its monthly debate on the Middle East on Oct. 13 without taking any action.
Opposition to Arab text
It's unfortunate that the United Nations deals with Israel, in my opinion, in a totally biased and unbalanced way. And it is the only country in the world, Israel, that has a special focus by the United Nations
Israel has launched a vigorous campaign to try to stop adoption of the Arab-sponsored text in the Assembly, where the major powers cannot exercise the right of veto they wield in the Security Council.
Israeli deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon on Tuesday accused the Palestinians of "manipulating international institutions in order to hurt and criticize Israel."
The Arab text faces certain opposition from the United States, the Jewish state's staunchest ally, and possibly from some European countries that see it as one-sided.
But the sponsors of the draft can count on broad support among nonaligned, African and Islamic states, which make up the majority of the U.N. membership.
The U.S. House of Representatives meanwhile condemned late Tuesday the U.N. Goldstone report as "unfairly" accusing Israel of committing war crimes in its 22-day war against Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The U.S. lawmakers adopted a a non-binding resolution, sharply worded but symbolic resolution urging U.S. President Barack Obama to fight U.N. endorsement of the Goldstone report's findings.
"I think the U.N. report is unbalanced, and unfair, and inaccurate," said Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
"It's unfortunate that the United Nations deals with Israel, in my opinion, in a totally biased and unbalanced way. And it is the only country in the world, Israel, that has a special focus by the United Nations," he added.
"Provocative" Israeli actions
The Secretary General is dismayed at continued Israeli actions in occupied east Jerusalem, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, the eviction of Palestinian families and the insertion of settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon in the meantime urged Israel to end its "provocative actions" in east Jerusalem and to abide by its commitments to freeze all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
"The Secretary General is dismayed at continued Israeli actions in occupied east Jerusalem, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, the eviction of Palestinian families and the insertion of settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods," a U.N. statement said.
Warning that such actions "stoke tensions, cause suffering and further undermine trust," Ban urged Israel "to cease such provocative actions."
Earlier Tuesday, dozens of Israeli settlers took over a house in mostly Arab east Jerusalem, armed with a court order secured after a protracted legal battle with a Palestinian family, witnesses and police said.
Washington faces an Arab backlash over U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's praise for Israel's offer to ease the growth of its settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Clinton arrived in Cairo late Tuesday for hastily convened talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after she was roundly criticized for praising as "unprecedented" a pledge by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit settlement growth.
The Israeli move falls far short of previous U.S. demands for a complete halt to all settlement activity.
Comments »