U.N. report: Israel, Hamas each committed war crimes

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (UPI) -- The 50-day war in Gaza in 2014 involved war crimes by both the Israeli and Hamas-led Palestinian sides, a U.N. report released Monday in Geneva said.

"The commission was able to gather substantial information pointing to serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by Israel and by Palestinian armed groups. In some cases, these violations may amount to war crimes," the 200-page report by the United Nations Human Rights Council said.

While the Palestinian Authority is expected to use the information in pressing its claims against Israel of war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel refused any involvement in the probe, which it claimed used foregone conclusions. An example, the Israelis noted, was the appointment of Canadian legal scholar William Schabas to lead the three-person investigative body; prior to his involvement in the investigation, Schabas recommended publicly that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be sued by the ICC for war crimes.

Schabas resigned his position on the commission in February after it was learned he briefly was hired as a legal consultant in 2012 by the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Mary McGowan Davis, a former New York State judge who replaced Schabas, said Monday the Israeli military should have made corrections to its combat policy after the extent of Palestinian civilian casualties was known.

"It becomes clear very early on that huge numbers of families are dying in these houses that are targeted by large bombs. It must become apparent to someone that the rules of engagement that are supposed to protect civilian lives are not effective, so those who were in the position to make the kind of decision to change the course of the operation should have done so," McGowan Davis said in Geneva.

Responding to the report, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman noted, "It is well known that the entire process that led to the production of this report was politically-motivated and morally-flawed from the outset, just as Israel seriously considered every complaint, no matter its origin. It is regrettable that the report fails to recognize the profound difference between Israel's moral behavior during Operation Protective Edge (the Israeli campaign in Gaza) and the terror organizations it confronted."

The report counted 1,462 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli fire, noting over one-third were children. It added a large number of families lost three or more members in airstrikes against residences. Six Israeli civilians died during the conflict.

"The fact that Israel did not revise its practice of airstrikes, even after their dire effects on civilians became apparent, raises the question of whether this was part of a broader policy which was at least tacitly approved at the highest level of government," a statement accompanying the report claimed.

Last week Netanyahu referred to the U.N. commission as a "hostile body, not objective regarding Israel." An internal Israeli investigation recounted war crimes committed by Hamas, Gaza's ruling body, adding Israel took steps to act within international law to avoid injury to civilians in Gaza.