The 47-member state Geneva forum adopted a resolution, presented by the Palestinian delegation backed by Muslim states, by a vote of 41 in favour, one against (the United States) and five abstentions. He said the vote should be not seen as a paradigm shift in India’s balanced position on Israel-Palestinian conflict.
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The resolution welcomes the UNHRC report, which found evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Hamas and Israel. India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Macedonia abstained. “In the past also, whenever a Human Rights Council resolution had made a direct reference to the ICC, as had happened in the Resolutions on Syria and North Korea, our general approach had been to abstain.”, he said, adding, “We have followed the same principle in our voting on today’s(Friday) Resolution”.
Last night, Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces arrested 108 members of Islamist faction Hamas in raids across the West Bank, in the cities of Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem, representing one of the largest operations against the group in the territory this year, according to theTimes of Israel.
Israeli lawmaker and chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, Yair Lapid, criticized the eight sitting European members for voting in favor, declaring “no limit to Europe’s hypocrisy”.
Major-General Yoav Mordechai, who oversees Israel’s civilian policy towards Gaza, named members of Hamas’s military wing he said were involved in training IS fighters and smuggling wounded from Sinai into Gaza for treatment.
The United Nations has accused the Israeli army of being responsible for strikes on buildings where civilians were sheltering during the conflict.
Tension is also high ahead of the anniversary of last summer’s war in Gaza.
There has been a sharp uptick in violent attacks against Israelis in recent weeks. “We talked to a lot of witnesses but of course an investigation needs to be as close to the scene as possible and it would have looked different”. “The goal of this global campaign against Israel is to question the democratic country’s right to self-defense to the point of rendering it virtually meaningless”, he said.
The Gaza commission report, headed by Mary McGowan Davis, placed blame on Israel and Hamas for their actions during the war but focused more on Israel’s role.
Israel has strongly resisted allegations its troops violated global law, claims that could have serious implications after Palestinians joined the global Criminal Court, where they are pursuing war crimes charges against Israel.
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Israel’s representative Eviatar Manor lambasted the decision, accusing the council of being an “agent provocateur”, while his Palestinian opposite number Ibrahim Khraishi was jubilant.
