Hammond: Israel War Crimes Probe Unhelpful An international inquiry into Israels actions in Gaza will not help efforts to achieve a ceasefire, according to British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. The UN Human Rights Council has voted to back a Palestinian resolution to begin an investigation, as Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said there was a strong possibility Israel was guilty of war crimes. Ms Pillay also condemned the indiscriminate firing of rockets and mortars by the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, into Israel. Urgent Need For Ceasefire But Mr Hammond said the resolution was fundamentally unbalanced and would complicate the process by introducing unnecessary new mechanisms. Mr Hammond, who held late night talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, said a ceasefire is not enough, and added he would push for a stable solution that allows Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace together. Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza on July 17 after more than a week of strikes aimed at stopping rocket fire into the country. More than 700 Palestinians have now died, according to Palestinian medics. Eighteen people were killed in airstrikes early on Thursday, they said, including a family of six. The Israeli army said three more soldiers were killed in combat on Wednesday, bringing to 32 the number of soldiers killed since the start of the ground operation. A Thai farm labourer was also killed when a rocket fired from Gaza struck the greenhouse where he was working in southern Israel. US Secretary of State John Kerry is in the region as efforts continue to end the conflict. Mr Kerry said after meeting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that some steps forward have been made, but added there is still work to be done. Hamas has meanwhile rejected any truce without the lifting of Israels eight-year blockade of Gaza. We will not accept any initiative that does not lift the blockade on our people and that does not respect their sacrifices, said Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. Meanwhile, a pro-Gaza rally in the French capital, Paris, has attracted 25,000 people, according to organisers. More than 1,000 undercover and uniformed officers were deployed for the march, which went ahead after organisers gave security guarantees. The continued fighting has caused flights into Tel Avivs Ben Gurion Airport to be affected after a rocket struck close to the runways on Tuesday. EasyJet has extended the suspension of its services into Thursday, confirming it would not operate flights from Luton, Gatwick, Basel, Berlin Schoenefeld, Geneva, Manchester and Milan Malpensa. The European safety regulator EASA also strongly recommended European airlines against flying there until further notice. A ban on US airlines flying to Tel Aviv has however been lifted by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 06:56:02 +0000
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