The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has lashed out at Israel for failing to probe the alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces during its offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The committee of independent experts appointed by the UNHRC to investigate the war on Gaza said on Tuesday that Israel's investigations into allegations of law and human rights violations has been inadequate.
The mission was set up after a UN-mandated report by South African judge Richard Goldstone accused Israel of having committed war crimes during the December 2008-January 2009 conflict.
Israel neither investigated the role of its leaders, nor claims of violations which occurred in the occupied West Bank during the same period, AFP reported.
The report by the committee underlined that the Goldstone mission contained "serious allegations that officials at the highest levels were complicit in violations" of international humanitarian and human rights laws.
Chairman of the UN committee of independent experts Christian Tomuschat issued a statement saying that "Israel has not met its duty to investigate this charge."
"Israel conducted investigations into many incidents, but only four resulted in criminal indictments, one of which led to a conviction for a credit card theft," Tomuschat explained.
"There were also concerns about whether the inquiries met standards of impartiality," added the committee, which is due to present their findings to the UN Human Rights Council on September 27.
The mission also criticized Palestinian resistance movement Hamas for falling short of tackling the Goldstone report.
The report looked into 36 incidents during the Israeli war on Gaza. The committee found that there were no military targets that could justify the controversial incidents, which involved attacks by Israeli forces.
Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip left some 1,400 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children.
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