Palestine's foreign minister and Israel's UN envoy went head-to-head on Wednesday at a Security Council debate over alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza conflict.

The council's monthly debate started with a briefing by the UN's top political official, Lynn Pascoe, who reiterated UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call on both sides to conduct "credible domestic investigations into the conduct of the conflict without delay."

"He hopes that such steps will be taken wherever there are credible allegations of human rights abuses throughout the world," Pascoe said.

A recent report of a UN mission led by South African judge Richard Goldstone found evidence that both sides in the three-week war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in December and January committed serious war crimes and breaches of humanitarian law.

Speaking at Wednesday's debate, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said that the "Goldstone report" constitutes a "wake-up call to the international community that must not be ignored."

The investigation led to "findings that clearly confirm that Israel, the occupying power, committed serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law," al-Malki said.

It also concluded that "Israel failed to take the precautions required by international law to avoid or minimize loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects, flagrantly violating the principle of distinction," he said.

The foreign minister called for "responsible follow up and action" to bring an end to Israel's "impunity" and prevent the recurrence of similar acts.

Al-Malki expressed the hope that the Human Rights Council, which will convene a special session on Thursday to discuss the Goldstone report, will endorse and convey it to the respective UN bodies as recommended by the report.

Earlier this month the 47-member council decided to defer action on a draft resolution on the issue until March 2010, but it has now brought forward the debate following a request from Palestine that was co-sponsored by 18 countries.

The Palestinian side "takes very seriously" the allegations on possible Palestinian violations, al-Malki said, pledging the "pursuit of domestic investigations to address this critical matter."

Gabriela Shalev, Israel's permanent representative to the UN, dismissed the Goldstone report as "one-sided, biased and therefore wrong."

"It favors and legitimizes terrorism. It is a prize for terrorist organizations. It denies Israel's right to defend its citizens. It falls directly into the pitfall strategically laid down by terrorist organizations around the world," Shalev said.

She said that the Security Council is not the right place to discuss the report, and by doing so, the council "has been shifted to discussing a narrative that is destructive to the peace process."

"For those of us who seek to resume the peace process in the Middle East, debating the Goldstone report in the Security Council is but a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," said the ambassador.

"If Israel is asked to take further risks for peace, the international community must recognize our right to self-defense," she added.

A total of 44 speakers, including representatives from the 15 Security Council members and other states, are expected to take the floor during the day-long debate.

Presenting his report to the Human Rights Council late last month, Goldstone called for an end to impunity for those found to have committed human rights violations.

"It is accountability above all that is called for in the aftermath of the regrettable violence that has caused so much misery for so many," he said.

Goldstone urged the council to implement a number of measures, including a referral of the mission's report to the Security Council, since neither the Government of Israel nor the responsible Palestinian authorities have so far carried out any credible investigations into alleged violations.

(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2009)