Israeli officials consider new probe into Gaza Strip assault

JERUSALEM — Even as it defended its handling of last year’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip,
Israeli officials said Friday that the government was considering
heeding international calls to open a new inquiry into its army’s
actions.

Officials cautioned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made no final decision and that his Cabinet remained divided.

Until now, Israel has flatly rejected calls for an independent probe and insisted that its own internal military investigation into the Gaza operation was sufficient. That inquiry found that Israel took strong measures to limit civilian causalities, though it acknowledged some cases of civilians being killed by mistake.

A U.N. inquiry by South African jurist Richard Goldstone reached a far different conclusion last fall, accusing Israel of war crimes. The report said Israel
used disproportionate force by deliberately targeting civilians,
destroying civilian infrastructure and using civilians as human shields.

Nearly 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died during the 22-day campaign, launched by Israel last winter after ongoing rocket attacks at southern Israeli cities from Gaza, which is run by the militant group Hamas.

Earlier this month, Israel paid $10.5 million to the U.N. for damage it had caused to a U.N. facility in Gaza.

The Goldstone report, which also accused Hamas of
possible war crimes, recommended that the U.N. refer the matter to the
International Criminal Court if the parties failed to adequately
investigate the claims. Israel
has criticized the U.N. commission as biased and its report as
factually incorrect. But now some government officials are pushing for
another inquiry to alleviate international pressure and lower the risk
that Israelis will be subjected to prosecution by foreign courts.

“We are looking at what we can do that will be
considered enough so as to prevent international prosecution and
investigation,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor.

Though many expect the U.S. to veto any move inside
the U.N. to refer the matter to the ICC, judicial systems in some
European nations have intervened in cases of alleged war crimes or
crimes against humanity under a legal principle known as universal
jurisdiction.

Last month, former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni canceled a trip to London after it was revealed that a British judge was moving to issue an arrest warrant against her over her role in the Gaza operation.

Former Israeli Attorney General Menachem Maruz,
who stepped down earlier this week, said Friday in an interview with
Haaretz newspaper that without a “serious, expert examination,” the
Goldstone Report would “continue to haunt us and take away our
legitimacy.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who opposes a new probe, said such a move would undermine troop morale.

“All of the soldiers and officers whom we sent to battle need to know that the state of Israel stands behind them even on the day after,” he told reporters Friday during a tree-planting ceremony.

In response to a U.N. deadline, Israel sent a 40-page letter Friday to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, detailing the merits of its justice system and defending its ability to investigate the matter internally.

The letter is not a point-by-point response to the
Goldstone report, officials said. Such a detailed rebuttal is currently
being prepared by the Israeli Defense Forces and is expected to be
released in March, Palmor said. A decision on a new inquiry could come
as soon as next week.

Separately Friday, Hamas leaders accused Israel of assassinating one of its commanders in a Dubai hotel room. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who reportedly died Jan. 20, was accused of masterminding the killing of two Israeli soldiers in the late 1980s.

Palmor dismissed the allegation. “They accuse us of everything,” he said. “They don’t need evidence.”

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