A UN inquiry team arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday to investigate the performance of Israel and Hamas during a three-week offensive Israel launched in the Hamas-controlled territory at the end of 2008.

South African veteran prosecutor Richard Goldstone leads the mission which the UN Human Rights Council appointed. Goldstone and the 14 legal experts entered Gaza through Rafah crossing point, coming from Egypt.

The delegation will visit areas where Israeli ground troops operated during Operation Cast Lead and the places that were hit by aircraft.

The team is scheduled to meet "all concerned parties," including Palestinian victims and officials from the Hamas-run health ministry, said a previous statement by the mission.

Adel Zourob, a spokesman for Hamas government, welcomed the arrival of the delegation, urging Goldstone to "work extensively to expose, condemn and chase down the Israeli war criminals."

Fawzi Barhoum, another Hamas spokesman, said his movement will cooperate with the UN team members "and will put all the evidences and proofs at their disposal to let them complete their mission."

The board will also look into the performance of the armed Palestinian groups during the operation, especially the rockets they fired at the Israeli communities near Gaza.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in the offensive which started on December 27, 2008 and ended on January 18, 2009.

On the Israeli side, three Israeli civilians were killed in Palestinian rocket attacks and tens soldiers were killed in the fighting inside Gaza.

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2009)