United Nations panel asks to postpone publishing Gaza war report

A UN inquiry will publish a report on war crimes that took place during Hamas’s war against Israel last year, during which Hamas indiscriminately fired thousands of rockets at Israel. 

UN panel.By AP

A UN inquiry into possible war crimes committed during the Gaza war last year has asked to postpone publication of their report from March until June to “weigh further information”, a UN statement said on Monday.

Their report on alleged violations by Israeli forces and violations by Hamas terrorists in Gaza during the July-August conflict was due to be issued to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 23.

In a statement, Council President Joachim Ruecker said that he backed the request for a deferral to June 2015 to finalise the report. The commission of inquiry’s former chairman, William Schabas, stepped down last month after Israeli charges of bias due to consultancy work he did for the Palestine Liberation Organization. Israel has called for the report to be shelved, accusing the authors of bias toward the Palestinians.