Israeli Foreign Ministry advises against cooperation with UN inquiry into Gaza war

The Israeli Foreign Ministry today advised the country’s government not to cooperate with the committee set up by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, local radio reported.

The station quoted unnamed Israeli public sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that “the ministry has clarified, during the last days, its recommendations on how to deal with the committee set up by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the implications of the military operation in the Gaza Strip.”

The sources added: “The ministry advises the government against cooperating with the investigation, because the majority of those within the Human Rights Council are hostile towards Israel.”

There has been no official statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry on this recommendation.

Last month, the Human Rights Council of the UN issued a resolution calling for “an urgent independent international inquiry” to go to Gaza to investigate “all violations” committed in the Israeli attack and calls investigators to prepare a list of “abuses and crimes” and “identify those responsible” for trial and “put an end to impunity”.

Israel launched an offensive against the Gaza Strip on July 7, which it has called “Operation Protective Edge”. To date, it has caused the deaths of nearly 1875 people and the injury of more than 9563 others according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

According to Israeli sources, 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed, and 1,008 have been wounded, including 651 military personnel and 357 civilians. Meanwhile, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said they killed 161 Israeli officers and captured another.

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli army announced the withdrawal of its ground forces to “lines of defence” outside the Gaza Strip, after a 72-hour truce was agreed upon between the Palestinian factions and Israel under the auspices of Egypt.