Israel PM urges UN to rescind inquiry on Gaza war crimes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called on the UN to cancel its inquiry into war crimes during the summer's Gaza war, after head of the investigation panel William Schabas announced he was stepping down.

"After the resignation of the commission chairman, who was biased against Israel, the report that was written at the behest of the UN Human Rights Council -- an anti-Israeli body that has nothing to do with human rights -- should be shelved," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

He reiterated Israel's position that the fighting was aimed to stop Hamas rocket fire at Israel's southern communities.

"Israel defended itself against the Hamas war criminals who used residents of Gaza as human shields to fire at Israeli citizens," Netanyahu said.

He maintained that the Israeli military was acting "in accordance with international law."

Schabas, a Canadian professor of international law, was appointed last August by the UN body to head a probe into alleged war crimes during Israel's military campaign in Gaza during July and August.

In his letter of resignation to the commission overnight Monday, Schabas cited Israel's allegations of bias due to consultancy work he had once carried out for the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) as the reason for his resignation.

The 50-day-long offensive in Gaza killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, at least 70 percent of them civilians, according to the UN.

The war caused casualties also to the Israeli side, claiming the lives of 73 people, all but six were soldiers.

Last week, B'Tselem, an Israeli rights group, released a 49-page-long report accusing the Israeli government of employing a deliberate policy of launching air strikes on residential buildings during the war in Gaza, and violating the rules of war in some cases. Endit