UN General Assembly Votes to Back the Goldstone Report

In a 114 to 18 vote, with 44 member-states abstaining, the UN General Assembly voted today to endorse the Goldstone report. The report, which details possible war crimes committed by Hamas and Israel during fighting in Gaza last December. The report calls on both governments to investigate the allegations or for the UN to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court.

The United States, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands were among the member-states who voted against the report. Great Britain and France were among the member-states who abstained.

Read more at Al Jazeera and the Jerusalem Post.

Israel's Response to the Goldstone Report

The Jerusalem Times reported that Israel's defense minister convened his security cabinet today to discuss the response to the Goldstone report, which documented suspected war crimes committed last December in Gaza.

The Goldstone report, adopted by the UNHRC last week, described possible war crimes committed by both sides fighting in Gaza. It accused Hamas of terrorizing civilian populations by rocket fire, and accused Israel of terrorizing civilian populations, using disproportionate force, and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, among other charges. The report recommends both sides investigate the allegations, or, the UNHCR said, the matter should be referred to the International Criminal Court. One of the options discussed in the meetings was creating an independent inquiry to investigate the allegations, thus avoiding scrutiny by the ICC.

UN HRC endorses Goldstone Report

In a twenty-five countries to six vote (including the US and the Netherlands), with eleven countries abstaining and five declining to vote (including France and the UK), the United Nations Human Rights Counsel endorsed the Goldstone report. The report accuses the military of using disproportion force and charges the Israelis and Hamas with war crimes, including terrorizing civilian populations. The report calls on Israel and Hamas to conduct investigations into the allegations, and a UN referral to the ICC if the two sides fail to investigate. Read more at Al Jazeera.

Prior to the vote, Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, speaking on behalf of UN Watch, said that the IDF took extraordinary measures to protect civilian populations. Col. Kemp said the IDF dropped leaflets, made thousands of phone calls, and aborted several missions to protect Palestinian civilians. Kemp also said many of the civilian casualties were caused by Palestinian fighters positioning themselves behind a "human shield" of civilians. Read more at Jerusalem Post.

Fatah Signs Palestinian Unity Pact

After announcing that it would push for UN action on the Goldstone report this Saturday, Fatah signs a reconciliation pact that calls for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on June 28. A Hamas spokesman said that they are still studying the proposal. Read more at Al Jazeera.

PA reverses previous stance on UN report

In a reversal from an announcement earlier this month, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said he would push for immediate action over the Goldstone report, a UN report that found evidence of war crimes by Hamas and Israel in Gaza last December. The previous stance by the PA to delay action on the UN report threatened to disrupt reconciliation talks between Hamas and the PA. Read more at NYTimes.com.

Hamas and Fatah put reconciliation agreement on hold.

Hamas announced Saturday it was postponing the agreement. Disagreement centers on the Palestinian Authority decision to delay action on the Goldstone report. The report found evidence of war crimes committed during the fighting in Gaza this past December, and urged both sides to conduct investigations. To read more click here al Jazeera or Jerusalem Post.