JURIST - Paper Chase: Israel urges international community to reject UN rights council Gaza resolution

[JURIST] The Israeli government on Friday rejected [press release] a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution [text, PDF; JURIST report] endorsing the final report [JURIST report] of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict [official website]. The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the resolution "one-sided" and called on the international community to join Israel in rejecting it, issuing the following statement:

The adoption of this resolution by the UNHRC impairs both the effort to protect human rights in accordance with international law, and the effort to promote peace in the Middle East. This resolution provides encouragement for terrorist organizations worldwide and undermines global peace.

Israel asserts that the resolution, passed by a vote of 25-6, with 11 abstaining, fails to address Hamas violence against Israeli civilians and overlooks measures Israel has adopted to curb Palestinian civilian deaths.

The resolution expresses support for Goldstone Report [text, PDF], which points to the commission of war crimes by both Israel and Hamas during a series of Palestinian-Israeli clashes in late 2008 and early 2009 collectively referred to as Operation Cast Lead [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Richard Goldstone presented [JURIST report] the mission's findings to the UNHRC last month. The US has threatened to veto Security Council resolutions that may arise from the matter.