Als Ban Ki-Moon zich zo expliciet over de zaak uitlaat, moet dat rapport wel zeer eenzijdig zijn. Het betreft hier het begin februari gestarte onderzoek o.l.v. Ian Martin naar Israelische treffers op VN-lokaties, niet het onderzoek naar mogelijke schendingen van het internationaal recht o.l.v. Richard Goldstone.
RP
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Last update - 15:25 05/05/2009
Ban: UN report on Gaza war not legally binding
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083191.html
Ban: UN report on Gaza war not legally binding
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083191.html
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said a UN committee that submitted a damning report on Israel's conduct in its recent offensive against Hamas had no authority to assign legal responsibility.
The Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday morning that the report accuses the Israel Defense Forces of deliberately firing at UN institutions as well as using disproportional force and causing unnecessary harm to civilians.
Israel later rejected the repot Tuesday as being "tendentious" and "patently biased."
Ban made the comments in a letter he agreed to attach to the report at the request of Foreign Ministry director-general Yossi Gal, who traveled to New York on Monday for meetings with Ban's aides on the matter.
Ban made the comments in a letter he agreed to attach to the report at the request of Foreign Ministry director-general Yossi Gal, who traveled to New York on Monday for meetings with Ban's aides on the matter.
In the letter, the UN chief condemned Hamas cross-border rocket fire on Israeli civilians, attacks that sparked the conflict and, according to the Israeli paper, were ignored by the UN committee in its report.
Ban also commended the Israel Defense Forces on its close coordination with the world body during the 3-week operation, as well as the cooperation given by Israel with the report's authors. He said his representatives were holding meetings with the Israeli government on implementing the report's recommendations.
The UN chief added there would be no further reports by the world body on the subject.
In its official response, the Foreign Ministry said: "Both [in] spirit and language, the report is tendentious, patently biased, and ignores the facts presented to the committee."
"The committee has preferred the claims of Hamas, a murderous terror organization, and by doing so has misled the world."
The Foreign Ministry noted that immediately upon the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, the codename for the operation, Israel carried out independent inquiries into the damage caused to the UN installations.
It said the findings of those inquiries proved "beyond doubt" that the IDF did not intentionally fire at the UN installations.
"Not only have the Hamas terrorists not conducted such inquiries," the ministry added, "they use violence and intimidation against citizens of Gaza as tools to prevent them from presenting the actual truth. In this manner they have deceived the investigators, the UN and public opinion."
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Israel blasts UN report on Cast Lead as 'patently biased'
May. 5, 2009
elie leshem , THE JERUSALEM POST
May. 5, 2009
elie leshem , THE JERUSALEM POST
Israel on Tuesday rejected as "patently biased" a UN inspection committee report which alleged that the IDF had intentionally attacked UN installations during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip and called on the UN to reassess its modus operandi in "the complex reality in which a terror organization operates in proximity to" its installations.
"Immediately upon the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, and unrelated to the UN investigation, Israel carried out independent inquiries into the damage caused to the UN installations," the Foreign Ministry said. "The findings of these inquiries were published two weeks ago, and proved beyond doubt that the IDF did not intentionally fire at the UN installations."
The Foreign Ministry's statement cited a letter that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to send to the Security Council in response to the report, in which Ban praises the "close cooperation accorded the inspection team by the Israeli authorities" and the "coordination between the IDF and the UN during Operation Cast Lead."
Ban, the statement said, "further emphasizes in his letter that the UN inspection committee is not a judicial body and is not authorized to examine legal issues."
The Foreign Ministry asserted that the UN had been "deceived" by Hamas, who used "violence and intimidation against citizens of Gaza as tools to prevent them from presenting the actual truth."
Israel "rejects the criticism in the committee's summary report, and determines that in both spirit and language, the report is tendentious, patently biased, and ignores the facts presented to the committee," the statement said. "The committee has preferred the claims of Hamas, a murderous terror organization, and by doing so has misled the world."
The statement also blasted the UN report for failing reflect the "various intelligence materials, including videos, aerial photographs, eye-witness reports and other material" presented to it by the Israeli investigative team.
"The report completely ignores the eight years of attacks against Israel that preceded the decision to initiate the operation, and ignores the difficult circumstances on the ground as dictated by Hamas and its methods of armed operation," the Foreign Ministry said. "Surprisingly, the report lays no responsibility on the Hamas organization, which placed its installations and dispatched its men to confront the IDF in proximity to the UN installations."
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710869089&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
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