U.N. Backs Gaza War Crimes Report

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Richard Boudreaux and Tina Susman

In a vote likely to complicate U.S. efforts to revive Middle East peace talks, the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed a report calling on Israel and Hamas to conduct credible investigations of alleged war crimes by their forces or face further international inquiries and possible prosecutions.

The action in Geneva by the 47-nation council was a sharp setback for Israel, which had labored to discredit the month-old U.N. report. The council's vote could force Israel to defend itself for months or perhaps years -- in diplomatic forums, if not criminal tribunals -- as U.N. bodies grapple with highly charged fallout from last winter's conflict in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Although the council embraced a report that condemned both sides, the resolution itself criticized only Israel and was adopted by a wide margin.

For the Obama administration, the decision represents a new obstacle to its goal of negotiations to establish a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned that an international stamp of approval for the war crimes allegations would prevent Israel from "taking risks" to reach a statehood accord. And the U.S.-backed Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, after first accepting that argument under U.S. pressure, reversed its stand and pushed for Friday's vote.

With only the United States and five European allies objecting, the council, dominated by developing nations, fully endorsed the findings and recommendations of an expert panel led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone that investigated the Gaza conflict.

Twenty-five nations, including Russia and China, voted for the resolution promoted by Arab members, and 16 nations abstained or did not vote. Egyptian Ambassador Hisham Badr, a key supporter, told the council that it "cannot turn a blind eye to the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories."

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the United States voted against the measure out of concern "that it will exacerbate polarization and divisiveness" and undermine special U.S. envoy George J. Mitchell's work to restart peace talks broken off in December. More...