Gaza : The Islamic Hamas movement Monday slammed Israel for not allowing the UN inquiry committee to reach Gaza to probe the results of the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Hamas spokesman in Gaza Sami Abu Zuhri said in an e-mailed press statement that banning the UN inquiry, which belongs to the Human Rights Council, from arriving in Gaza showed that Israel wanted to cover up war crimes.
He called on the global humanitarian organisation “to stick to its right to get to the Gaza Strip and investigate the results of the war crimes on the ground and hear the real testimonies from the people themselves”, Xinhua reported.
He also called on the UN committee not to accept any investigation of the war’s results outside of Gaza, adding “the Palestinian Authority should also carry its responsibilities to put pressure on Israel and let the UN committee go to Gaza”.
The Israeli foreign ministry announced several days ago that it had rejected a request made by the UN committee to reach the Palestinian territories to probe the results of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
The UN Human Rights Council decided July 23 to form a probe committee to investigate the violations during the large-scale Israeli offensive on Gaza that lasted for 50 days and ended Aug 26.
The members of the UN committee are currently in Jordan, where they held meetings and consultations with witnesses as well as with Palestinian governmental and non-governmental organisations.