Arab Parliament hails UN probe into Israel's human rights violations

CAIRO, Egypt

The Arab Parliament on Friday welcomed the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to launch an international investigation into Israel’s human rights violations during its recent attacks on Palestinian territories.

A statement said the UN move was in line with the Arab Parliament’s call for an investigation into “the crimes of the occupying power [Israel] against the Palestinian people.”

It said the council’s decision shows “willingness by the international community to fulfill its responsibilities towards the Palestinian people who are facing massacres.”

The Cairo-based body said it was imperative to set up the inquiry commission at the earliest.

It also called on countries worldwide to “provide support in order to avoid any obstacles by the occupying power [Israel] to disrupt the function of the commission.”

The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Thursday that calls for the urgent creation of an international independent investigation commission to probe Israel’s human rights violations during its attacks on occupied Palestinian territories since April 13.

The commission will investigate “all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity,” it added.

The resolution – adopted by 24 votes in favor, with nine countries voting against and 14 abstaining – has been welcomed by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

An Egyptian-brokered truce that took effect in the early hours of May 21 ended Israel’s 11-day onslaught on Palestinians.

The death toll from Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank now stands at 288, including 69 children and 40 women, with more than 8,900 others injured, according to official Palestinian figures.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara