By DPA,
Geneva: The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted Friday the war crimes report of Justice Richard Goldstone regarding the conflict in and around the Gaza Strip last December and January, setting the stage for possible further international action.
On the 47-member body, 25 states voted in favour of a resolution tabled by the Palestinians and 11 delegates abstained. Six nations, including the US and some EU nations, voted against the resolution.
The report, written by Goldstone, a South African war crimes prosecutor, and three other international experts, concluded that both Israel and the Hamas movement likely committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.
The Goldstone report said each party should investigate itself objectively or the case should be handed over to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
With the adoption of the resolution, the Human Rights Council would hand the matter over “urgently” to the UN General Assembly in New York, which could recommend ICC involvement.
“This resolution goes far beyond even the initial scope of the Goldstone Report into a discussion of elements that should be resolved in the context of permanent status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis,” US envoy to UN Douglas Griffiths said, when explaining why his country was voting against the document.
The US has said the report was unfair towards Israel, something Goldstone repeatedly denied, noting he investigated all sides of the conflict.
Most major human rights groups and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, have generally backed the findings in the report.
Israel has said it was a “biased and flawed report” and adopting it would be “a reward for terror” as it was acting in self-defence in Gaza.
Also, Israeli officials have said that if the UN pursued the report it would harm the peace process, though Palestinians have countered that the talks are stalled.
The resolution adopts the Goldstone report in full, along with condemnation of Israel for its refusal to cooperate with the fact-finding mission.
A last-minute change to the text by Arab states, included a condemnation of all parties to the conflict who attacked civilians, in an attempt to alleviate concerns that Israel was being attacked unfairly.
Israel used disproportionate force and deliberately harmed Palestinian civilians while Hamas fired rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians, the report found.
The adopted resolution also slammed Israel for the recent tensions in Jerusalem.
Israel has said it has already launched investigation.
During the three weeks of fighting in Gaza, 1,400 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians, the report said, while Israel suffered the deaths of three civilians and 10 soldiers.