Palestine Welcomes Decision To Investigate Israeli Violations

On Thursday, Palestine welcomed a decision by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNCHR) to form an independent international commission to investigate Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.

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The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the council's decision "reflects the international community's persistence to implement international law and protect Palestinian human rights," said the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"Forming the commission came in implementation of Palestine's decision in the council during its special session number 30," it recalled, adding that the commission will look into Israeli violations of humanitarian and international human rights law in the Palestinian territories since April 13.

The UNCHR President Nazhat Shameem Khan announced the appointment of Navi Pillay, Miloon Kothari, and Chris Sidoti as the three members of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (CIOPT).

Pillay, a South African who was the former chief of the UNCHR, will serve as the chair of the new three-person commission, which was also tasked with investigating "all underlying root cause of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict."

In April, tensions escalated in East Jerusalem and then spread to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip following an Israeli court's verdict to evict families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the city. On May 10, Israel waged a large-scale aerial offensive on the Gaza Strip after militants led by the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, launched a barrage of rockets at Israel.

The offensive ended after 11 days of fighting when Egypt brokered a ceasefire deal between the two sides. Over 250 Palestinians were killed, with widespread destruction of buildings and infrastructure in Gaza.