UN Human Rights Council Votes in Favor of Investigation into Gaza Incidents

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted on Friday, May 17, to send a team of international war crimes investigators to the region to investigate the deadly shootings by Israeli forces against protesters in Gaza. On the same day, the Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted to this vote, accusing the council of 'hypocrisy.' According to AFP, the new decision by the UN Human Rights Council was approved through a resolution that calls for the council to 'immediately dispatch an independent international commission of inquiry' for the highest level of investigation in this regard. The report states that only two of the 47 council members, the United States and Australia, voted against the resolution, while 29 countries voted in favor and 14 members, including the UK, Switzerland, and Germany, abstained. The resolution states that 'the dispatched team must investigate all allegations of violations and misconduct... related to military attacks against widespread civilian protests that began on March 30, 2018, including those that may constitute war crimes.' The special UN meeting was held after six weeks of extensive protests by Palestinian refugees at the Gaza border, who are demanding to return to their former homes inside Israel. Following the outbreak of violence between Israeli forces and protesters, over 100 residents of Gaza were killed. On a single day of protests, namely Monday, coinciding with the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands were injured. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized what he called the 'disproportionate use of force' by Israeli forces at the opening of the special council meeting and supported an international investigation in this regard. According to Mr. al-Hussein, 'some protesters have thrown Molotov cocktails, hurled stones with slingshots, sent burning kites towards Israel, and attempted to cut the barbed wire fence between Gaza and Israel.' He added, 'However, these actions alone do not seem to pose an immediate lethal threat or cause deadly harm that could justify the use of lethal measures.' He stated that 'the horrific events of last week have brought no greater security for anyone.' Israel has justified its military's approach to protesters, claiming that such measures are necessary to prevent the 'mass infiltration' of individuals from Gaza, which is governed by the Islamist movement Hamas. AFP reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the new resolution of the UN Human Rights Council in a statement on Friday, accusing the council of 'duplicity and meaningless actions.' The statement said that Israel completely rejects the council's decision, asserting that this decision once again proves that this body is an anti-Israel entity dominated by hypocrisy and emptiness. Meanwhile, Aviva Raz Shechter, Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, also called the resolution 'shameful' and stated, 'The aggressor is Hamas. The group committing war crimes is Hamas.' Theodore Allegra, the US representative to the UN, criticized what he termed 'biased focus on Israel,' stating that this resolution 'has a one-sided focus without making any requests for investigations from Hamas.'