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World Jewish News
Israel blasts UN report on Cast Lead as 'patently biased'
05.05.2009
Israel on Tuesday rejected as "patently biased" a UN inspection committee report which alleged that the IDF had intentionally attacked UN installations during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip and called on the UN to reassess its modus operandi in "the complex reality in which a terror organization operates in proximity to" its installations.
"Immediately upon the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, and unrelated to the UN investigation, Israel carried out independent inquiries into the damage caused to the UN installations," the Foreign Ministry said. "The findings of these inquiries were published two weeks ago, and proved beyond doubt that the IDF did not intentionally fire at the UN installations."
The Foreign Ministry's statement cited a letter that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to send to the Security Council in response to the report, in which Ban praises the "close cooperation accorded the inspection team by the Israeli authorities" and the "coordination between the IDF and the UN during Operation Cast Lead."
Ban, the statement said, "further emphasizes in his letter that the UN inspection committee is not a judicial body and is not authorized to examine legal issues."
The Foreign Ministry asserted that the UN had been "deceived" by Hamas, who used "violence and intimidation against citizens of Gaza as tools to prevent them from presenting the actual truth."
Israel "rejects the criticism in the committee's summary report, and determines that in both spirit and language, the report is tendentious, patently biased, and ignores the facts presented to the committee," the statement said. "The committee has preferred the claims of Hamas, a murderous terror organization, and by doing so has misled the world."
The statement also blasted the UN report for failing reflect the "various intelligence materials, including videos, aerial photographs, eye-witness reports and other material" presented to it by the Israeli investigative team.
"The report completely ignores the eight years of attacks against Israel that preceded the decision to initiate the operation, and ignores the difficult circumstances on the ground as dictated by Hamas and its methods of armed operation," the Foreign Ministry said. "Surprisingly, the report lays no responsibility on the Hamas organization, which placed its installations and dispatched its men to confront the IDF in proximity to the UN installations."
By ELIE LESHEM
Источник: JPost.com
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