Israel summons Belgian envoy after rights council vote

By Abdul Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Belgium’s ambassador to Israel after Brussels’ representative at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) voted in favor of Palestine.

“[Belgian Ambassador] Olivier Belle was summoned Tuesday morning after the vote at the HRC,” ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said in a statement.

On Sunday, Nahshon said the ministry had summoned the Spanish and Slovenian ambassadors after both countries had voted in favor of an HRC resolution calling for an investigation into Israel’s recent massacre of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza.

On May 14, at least 65 unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza were martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by intense Israeli army gunfire.

The protests coincided with the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians remember as the "The Catastrophe" -- and the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

Last Friday, the HRC dispatched an independent commission of inquiry to investigate alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, which has groaned under a crippling Israeli/Egyptian embargo since 2007.

By Abdul Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Belgium’s ambassador to Israel after Brussels’ representative at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) voted in favor of Palestine.

“[Belgian Ambassador] Olivier Belle was summoned Tuesday morning after the vote at the HRC,” ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said in a statement.

On May 14, at least 65 unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza were martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by intense Israeli army gunfire.

The protests coincided with the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians remember as the "The Catastrophe" -- and the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

Last Friday, the HRC dispatched an independent commission of inquiry to investigate alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, which has groaned under a crippling Israeli/Egyptian embargo since 2007.