GAZA (PIC)– A UN committee began Sunday collecting testimonies from Palestinians after recommendations by Judge Richard Goldstone to investigate the 2008-2009 Israeli war against the Gaza Strip which claimed the lives of 1450 Palestinians.
Members of the experts committee met up with active Palestinian human rights organizations’ representatives in the Gaza Strip to listen to eyewitness accounts from the families of the Palestinian war victims.
The committee which was assigned by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) landed in the Gaza Strip via the Rafah-Egypt border Saturday evening. Members are scheduled to stay in Gaza until Aug. 17.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said its officials briefed the UN inquiry board of its experience in filing claims in Israeli courts and the inherent deficiencies in the Israeli regime “which make working towards justice for Palestinian victims impossible.”
The committee is expected to submit its final report to the UNHRC this September. Israel has refused to cooperate with the UN panel formed to look into its war on Gaza.
In related developments PCHR director Raji al-Sourani warned against “institutionalization” of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip stressing that complying with prohibited and allowed goods lists “is ridiculous”.
This came during a meeting with international delegations from Spain and the Netherlands while Sourani presented an overview of the current deterioration of human rights in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and the enduring Israeli blockade.
Sourani stressed that Palestinian civilians – who are presumably protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention – are the real victims of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.
