THE United Nations has appointed a widely respected South African judge who is a trustee of Hebrew University to lead an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Israel refused to say if it would co-operate.
Richard Goldstone, who is the former UN chief prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, was named to head the inquiry ordered by the Human Rights Council in January.
According to the mand
ate, the investigation should focus on Palestinian victims of the three-week war between Israel and Hamas earlier this year.
But Mr Goldstone, a Jewish former judge of the South African constitutional court, said his team would investigate "all violations of international humanitarian law" before, during and after the conflict that ended on 18 January.
He said: "It's in the interest of the victims … It can assist the healing process. I would hope it's in the interests of all the political actors, too."
Martin Uhomoibhi, the council president, explained the apparent contradiction by saying the mission always intended to evaluate the proportionality of Israel's response, which requires that acts of both warring parties be examined.
Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said: "This committee is instructed not to seek out the truth but to single out Israel for alleged crimes." He called the 47-nation body "discredited" and said it has no "practically credibility".
