Ben Netanyahu
Banned
[citation needed]smh said:A UNITED NATIONS report into the war in Gaza has concluded unequivocally that Israel deliberately fired at UN institutions and has accused the Israel Defence Forces of excessive use of force, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The newspaper said the explosive report landed on the UN Secretary-General's desk late last week, but Ban Ki-moon was reportedly set to reject it.
The move is sure to spark a wave of protests from international human rights organisations that have accused Israel of committing war crimes during the three-week offensive that ended in January.
Conducted by a UN special investigator, Ian Martin, the investigation stops short of accusing Israel of war crimes but did charge Israeli soldiers with targeting Palestinian civilians.
Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27 last year in an effort to stop Palestinian rockets being fired on southern Israel, attacking more than 3000 targets.
An IDF assessment published last month concluded that 1150 people were killed during the operation, two-thirds of whom it says were militants, while the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza said more than 1400 people were killed.
Yedioth Ahronoth yesterday said that the Israeli Government was putting heavy pressure on Mr Ban to delay the publication of Mr Martin's report, which Israel says totally ignores the attacks faced by Israel.
The newspaper also reported that Mr Ban was preparing to submit a letter to the UN Security Council in which he states that he does not intend to investigate matters surrounding Operation Cast Lead any further and in which he also makes clear that Mr Martin's report has no legal validity.
According to a US official who has seen the report, "the authors completely ignored the information that Israel passed on to the UN".
Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told a meeting of the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee that he is willing to begin negotiations with the Palestinians without delay.
In a taped speech broadcast at a conference in Washington, Mr Netanyahu refused to use the words "Palestinian state" but suggested that he was ready to conduct negotiations surrounding diplomatic, economic and security issues.
Last edited by a moderator: