UN report on Gaza war not legally binding : Ban Ki Moon

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said a damning UN report on Israel's conduct in its recent offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was not legally binding.

The Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday morning that the probe accuses the Israel Defense Forces of deliberately firing at UN institutions as well as using disproportional force and causing unnecessary harm to civilians.

Israel later rejected the report Tuesday as being "tendentious" and "patently biased."

Ban made the comments in a letter he agreed to attach to the report at the request of Foreign Ministry director-general Yossi Gal, who traveled to New York on Monday for meetings with Ban's aides on the matter.

In the letter, the UN chief condemned Hamas cross-border rocket fire on Israeli civilians, attacks that sparked the conflict and, according to the Israeli paper, were ignored by the UN committee in its report.

Ban also commended the Israel Defense Forces for its close coordination with the world body during the 3-week operation, as well as the cooperation given by Israel with the report's authors. He said his representatives were holding meetings with the Israeli government on implementing the report's recommendations.

The UN chief added there would be no further reports by the world body on the subject.

In its official response, the Foreign Ministry said: "Both [in] spirit and language, the report is tendentious, patently biased, and ignores the facts presented to the committee."

"The committee has preferred the claims of Hamas, a murderous terror organization, and by doing so has misled the world."

The Foreign Ministry noted that immediately upon the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, the codename for the operation, Israel carried out independent inquiries into the damage caused to the UN installations.

It said the findings of those inquiries proved "beyond doubt" that the IDF did not intentionally fire at the UN installations.

"Not only have the Hamas terrorists not conducted such inquiries," the ministry added, "they use violence and intimidation against citizens of Gaza as tools to prevent them from presenting the actual truth. In this manner they have deceived the investigators, the UN and public opinion."

 

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent