Israel launches campaign to discredit UN probe into Gaza war

Israeli officials have embarked on a campaign to discredit a UN commission formed to investigate its war on Gaza last May and the root causes of the protracted conflict in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Axios news site reported.

According to the site, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has sent a classified cable to all Israeli diplomatic missions around the world in which it designated the commission of inquiry as its “top priority” at the UN in 2022.

According to the site, the cable said the Foreign Ministry was about to start a diplomatic campaign on the issue that will be increased ahead of the UN Human Rights Council meeting in March.

Israeli officials fear the commission’s report; expected in June, will refer to Israel as an “Apartheid state” and that its findings could damage Israel’s reputation, particularly among progressives in the West.

Last May, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva voted to form the Commission of Inquiry into Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

For 11 days, Israel launched one of its deadliest wars on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 260 Palestinians, wounding hundreds more and causing significant material damage to the already fragile infrastructure.

Israel’s practice of apartheid has been known for decades with former Israeli prime ministers and diplomats warning that the occupation state’s future would mirror the racism of South-Africa under white rule. Most recently prominent human rights groups Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem published detailed reports on Israel’s practice of apartheid and promotion and perpetuation of Jewish supremacy between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

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