Thursday, September 2, 2010

Hundreds of people have protested against the Palestinian Authority’s support for delaying the endorsement of a UN report on possible war crimes committed during Israel’s Gaza offensive.

Yesterday’s demonstration was held as anger mounted over the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to delay consideration of the report compiled by former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

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,” one witness said.

Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, meanwhile accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas of the “absurd and criminal” decision to delay endorsement of the report, a move he said endangered Egyptian-brokered national unity talks.

“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.

The adoption of the report by the 49-member council was seen as a key step towards eventually bringing war crimes charges against Israeli leaders and Palestinian militants at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Israel had warned that endorsing the report could endanger US-backed efforts to relaunch the peace process, and Washington was believed to have exerted strong pressure on the Palestinians to drop their support for the vote.

When the Palestinians came out to support delaying the vote, several Arab and Muslim states which had supported its findings followed suit.

The UN report accused both Israel and Palestinian armed groups of committing war crimes during the three-week war in Gaza that erupted on December 27, killing up to 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.