Fri, 12 Feb 2010 | PressTV
Israel has rejected United Nations demands of an independent probe into its last year war on the Gaza Strip which claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians. A senior official in the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday that the report Israel gave UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the investigations it is conducting into Operation Cast Lead earlier this month is sufficient.
“Israel feels the report it gave was a serious, comprehensive, credible and complete answer to the UN secretary-general,” the official said.
“We believe that we conduct credible investigations and that we have procedures in place to investigate these types of matters that are as good as exist in any country in the world,” he added.
Israel's rejection comes as Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly urged Tel Aviv to allow an independent inquiry into the Gaza war.
The United Nations blasted Israel last week for what it called Israel's un-reliable report.
The UN report led by former South African judge Richard Goldstone concluded last September that Israel carried out "deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects" in January-December war on Gaza.
The 575-page UN-ordered report asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags.
In November 2009, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that accuses Israel of war crimes and criminal acts against humanity during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
