Israel obstructing law, again

Israel is once again refusing to cooperate with the UN over its violations of human rights and humanitarian law, this time in regard to its 50-day war on Gaza in the summer.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) had appointed a committee to investigate charges that Israel committed war crimes during its war on Gaza, but the committee members were refused entry into Israel en route to Gaza to conduct their probe, and instead, had to meet with Palestinians in Jordan for testimonies.

The refusal to allow the committee in was denounced by the Palestinian representative to the Red Cross, who considered it yet another Israeli violation of Palestinian rights.

Israel has in effect incriminated itself by refusing to extend any form of cooperation to the UN investigating team whose sole purpose is to establish the truth.

Israel dismissed the UNHRC investigation, calling it a “kangaroo court”. 

It accused the UNHCR chairman, Canadian academic William Schabas, of bias against Israel because of his repeated calls to bring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the International Criminal Court.

The investigating team’s report would include possible Israeli crimes from June 16, 2014, until the day the report is submitted, which means it would cover the 50-day war on Gaza in July and August, during which over 2,180 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians — and among them over 500 children — and 11,000 were injured.

Gaza Strip suffered widespread devastation, so bad that UN head Ban Ki-moon called it “beyond description”.

Since Israel insists it is innocent, it only stands to gain by having the investigation go through.

But is it?