Gaza City, October 05: The prime minister of the democratically elected Hamas government in Gaza on Sunday slammed as “reckless and irresponsible” the decision by the UN Human Rights Council to postpone consideration of a damning report into the Gaza war.
Ismail Haniya blamed the Palestinian Authority for the decision to delay a vote on the report by the former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.
The report accused both Israel and Palestinian resistance of committing war crimes during the three-week conflict at the turn of the year.
The report reserved its harshest criticism for Israel.
Goldstone had recommended sending the report to the UN Security Council and to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, if Israel and Palestinians fail to conduct independent investigations as called for by the report.
“The decision taken by Ramallah to withdraw the Goldstone report was reckless and irresponsible,” Haniya said, referring to the West Bank government of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen).
He added that the decision “trades in the blood of the children of Gaza.”
“Abbas gave the orders to delay voting on the report,” Haniya told reporters.
“How can the two parties (Fatah and Hamas) sit at one table and sign an agreement in this situation? … This has placed a heavy obstacle in the way of Palestinian unity,” he said.
Hamas has led a chorus of criticism of the decision taken on Friday in the UN Human Rights Council.
On Monday in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah, hundreds of people protested against the decision, waving placards saying the delay “insults the blood of the martyrs and wounds our people”.
Another sign read “Delaying the vote on the Goldstone report frees the hand of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu in Jerusalem.”
In Jerusalem Palestinian activists protested against the decision at a news conference in front of two homes that were occupied by Israeli settlers over the summer.
“(The decision) was a knife in the backs and in the hearts of all the martyrs,” said Jamal al-Jumaa from the Popular Campaign to End the Wall, an organisation that opposes Israel’s controversial separation fence.
Muhammad Jadallah, the head of the Coalition for Jerusalem, demanded an apology from Abbas.
“We want president Abbas to apologise for what happened, and if the government had anything to do with the decision we want it to resign,” he said.
On Saturday, 16 Palestinian human rights groups slammed the delay, saying in a joint statement that it “denies the Palestinian people’s right to an effective judicial remedy and the equal protection of the law.”
“It represents the triumph of politics over human rights. It is an insult to all victims and a rejection of their rights,” the groups said.
The decision was widely seen as the result of intense pressure from Washington which, along with Israel, had criticised the report.
“Abu Mazen (Abbas) was himself responsible for this decision,” a senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) said.
“He was under pressure from many states, especially the United States and Britain,” the official added on condition of anonymity.
The decision drew criticism from within the ranks of Abbas’s Fatah party.
Also on Saturday, the Palestinian economy minister Bassem Khuri, an independent, resigned in protest of the decision taken on the report, according to a senior official.
Israel had threatened not take steps towards peace if Goldstone Gaza report passes to UN Security Council.
“The adoption of what is called the Goldstone report would deal a fatal blow to the peace process,” hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“Israel will not be able to take further steps and further risks towards peace if the report is adopted,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon warned that the Palestinian Authority’s support for the report could hamper future negotiations on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
“They were the ones that instigated the report and that are calling for measures. We would expect them to cease this altogether, not just because there is no basis for it but also because this is the most unfriendly act if we want to deal together on the most difficult issues,” Ayalon told reporters.
“Any action taken on this report would have a detrimental effect on the peace process, if not deal it a fatal blow… The Palestinians cannot try to talk peace and attack us at the same time,” he said.
Some 1,400 Palestinians — mainly civilians, including hundreds of children — were killed by Israel during the war, which came to an end on January 18 when both sides declared unilateral ceasefires.
The United States, which recently joined the 47-member Council after remaining on the sidelines for years, had opposed endorsement of the report.
In its decision on Friday, which was endorsed by several Arab and Muslim states which had previously expressed support for the report, the 49-member UN council postponed the vote to March next year.
A Syrian foreign ministry official expressed “surprise” at the PA decision, and accused it of obstructing “Arab, Muslim and international efforts that rallied to take the necessary steps to implement the report’s recommendations.”
In Cairo, Arab League chief Amr Mussa told reporters he was “disturbed” by the delay, and added in veiled criticism of the PA that “there was no consultation” with the league before it agreed to support the delay.
An Arab League diplomat said the Palestinian Authority of making “concessions for free to Israel without getting anything in return.”
In Lebanon, Hezbollah said in a statement that the vote delay was “a response to an American demand, with the complicity of some Arabs.”
Abbas reacted to the criticism by forming a committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the delay, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted a senior Palestinian official as saying.
—Agencies