Date:13/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/13/stories/2009011355771200.htm

International

UN rights panel condemns Israel

Atul Aneja

DUBAI: The United Nations Human Rights Council has condemned Israel on Monday for “grave violations” of human rights of the people of Gaza. The council also said that an international mission should be dispatched urgently to investigate Israeli behaviour in the territory. The non-binding resolution was passed by 33 votes with 13 abstentions and one against. The resolution said that the council “strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli military operations... which have resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people and systematic destruction of the Palestinian infrastructure.” However, the document also called for an end to “launching of the crude rockets against Israeli civilians that resulted in the loss of four civilian lives,” after noting that Israeli attacks had caused around 900 Palestinian deaths and injured around 4,000.