GENEVA – Both Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have failed to make credible progress in investigating claims of war crimes committed during the 2008 conflict in Gaza, a UN committee said on Monday.
In a report presented to the UN Human Rights Council, Mary McGowan Davis, who heads the committee, acknowledged that Israel has dedicated “significant resources to investigate over 400 allegations of operational misconduct in Gaza.” However, only a fraction of these investigations have been completed.
“Given the scale of this undertaking, much remains to be accomplished. We noted that a number of investigations reportedly remain open,” Davis said. In addition, “there is no indication that Israel has opened investigations into the actions of those who designed, planned, ordered and oversaw Operation Cast Lead,” Davis noted.
The committee also deplored Hamas’ failure to carry out investigations. “We remain extremely concerned by indications that the de facto authorities have not conducted any investigations into the launching of rocket and mortar attacks against Israel,” said Davis.
