The Palestinian Authority, under heavy pressure from the US, has withdrawn its support for a UN Human Rights Council resolution on alleged war crimes in Gaza, diplomats said on Thursday.
The resolution endorses a UN report that claims both Israel and Palestinian militant groups committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during their Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 conflict.
Palestinian officials earlier this week welcomed the report when it was presented to the Geneva-based rights council, while Israel and the US have strongly rejected the findings.
UN and European diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinian delegation’s surprise turnaround means any resolution on the report would likely be delayed until next March. Although the Palestinians aren’t voting members of the 47-nation rights council, Arab and Muslim countries who control the body may be reluctant to press ahead with the resolution without Palestinian support.
A senior US official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinian decision came after “intense diplomacy” by Washington to convince the Palestinian leadership that going ahead with the resolution would harm the Middle East peace process.
“The Palestinians recognized that this was not the best time to go forward with this,” the US official said.
The report recommended that the UN Security Council in New York require both sides to show they are carrying out credible investigations into alleged abuses during the three-week conflict — in which almost 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
Stung by the damning report, Israel is taking extraordinary steps to fend off potential international prosecution of its political and military leaders, hiring high-powered attorneys, lobbying Western governments and launching a public relations blitz.
Israel has dismissed the UN investigation into its winter offensive in the Gaza Strip as biased, but its latest moves show it is clearly concerned.
The UN report appears to have energized pro-Palestinian groups that have hoped for years to bring Israelis before courts in countries that recognize the concept of “universal jurisdiction” — trying people for crimes unrelated to their own territory or nationals.
Most recently, British activists attempted this week to have Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrested during a trip to Britain for war crimes connected to his role in the Gaza War. Barak was untouched — but only because the court that considered the request ruled that he enjoyed immunity as a Cabinet minister. The incident raised the prospect, however, that Israelis might find it increasingly difficult to travel to European countries that recognize universal jurisdiction.
The obstacles to using the ICC may put pressure on national courts, such as the one in Britain that heard the request to arrest Barak, to take the lead in hearing such cases.
There have been a series of attempts in recent years by Palestinian groups to target Israeli leaders and military commanders with war crimes allegations. In 2001, activists tried to bring then prime minister Ariel Sharon to trial in Belgium in connection with a 1982 massacre at a Beirut refugee camp and in 2005, a retired Israeli general stayed aboard his plane in London after he was tipped off that police were waiting to arrest him outside.
Those efforts all failed, but Israel is clearly bracing now for an intensified campaign.
Ironically, Israel finds itself a target of international legislation it was instrumental in advancing, said Yossi Beilin, a former Israeli justice minister.
Beginning in the 1950s, Israel — eager to see Nazi war criminals brought to justice — was heavily involved in creating international legislation and mechanisms to deny war criminals the opportunity to seek refuge outside the countries in which they operated, Beilin said.
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