Israel invasion of Gaza:

UN resumes debate

UN: Israel’s invasion of Gaza is back to the UN debate, being on Friday the deadline for Israelis and Palestinian reports on war crimes that were committed at that time.

Friday was the end of the three-month term, set by the UN General Assembly for both sides to access the recommendations in the report elaborated by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, about the violations registered during the Israeli aggression against Gaza in 2009.

Close to the period’s expiring date, Israel announced on Friday that it had sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the issue, but it is not an official response to the committee that South African jurist Richard Goldstone chaired.

Israel has no intention of creating a research group, but presented a text that responds to very specific statements, said Israeli Information Minister Yuli Edelstein-Alon.

The Palestinian Authority confirmed that it had presented on Friday night to the United Naitons leadership a document related to the work by a commission established to conduct the investigation requested by Goldstone’s team.

On Wednesday, Ban Ki-Moon said he was awaiting information from both sides to draft the report that would be presented to the General Assembly.

Goldstone’s report was endorsed by the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly in October and November, respectively. The 574-page Goldstone report proves that Israel violated humanitarian law and abused power disproportionately during its Molten Lead Operation against the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territory of Gaza resulted in 1,400 deaths and more than 5,000 wounded people in three weeks of actions, between December 27, 2008, and January 18, 2009.

New York, Jan 30 Prensa Latina