Gaza, October 10: Palestinian diplomats in Geneva are seeking to bring forth a UN Human Rights Council debate on Israeli war crimes as the occupying regime resorts to new violence against Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said on Friday that Israel’s violence against Palestinians in Al-Aqsa mosque compound has prompted the group to ask for an urgent meeting on the regime’s war crimes committed during the 22-day war in Gaza last year, AP reported.
Last week, the Palestinian Authority agreed to delay debating a UN report on Israeli war crimes until March, over concerns that going ahead now could harm the fragile Middle East peace process.
The report by a team of experts led by the former South African judge, Richard Goldstone, said Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27 – January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.
The decision however led to street protests by the Palestinians and condemnation across the Arab world.
“We deferred, so we were expecting that the Israelis should respect in some way human rights, but this act of aggression against people, against the human rights and humanitarian law, is unbelievable,” Khraishi said.
The regime, however, resorted to a new violence against the Palestinians since last week.
It triggered violent clashes in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound after closing the holy site to Palestinians and deploying thousands of troops in Jerusalem’s Old City to allow the holding of a Jewish religious ceremony at the site.
—–Agencies