<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Hamas: Goldstone does not own UN&nbsp;report]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><img src='https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/67996_345x230.jpg' alt='' /><br />
April 3, 2011</p>
<p>GAZA CITY (Ma&#8217;an) &#8212; Hamas on Sunday urged the UN to confirm its report  on Israel&#8217;s 2008-2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip, after the report&#8217;s  author said its conclusions would have been different had Israel  cooperated in the investigation.</p>
<p>South African jurist Richard  Goldstone&#8217;s fact-finding mission into Operation Cast Lead found that  Israel and Hamas may have committed war crimes and crimes against  humanity. The mission found evidence that Israel committed &#8220;grave  breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of willful killings  and willfully causing great suffering to protected persons.&#8221;</p>
<p>It recommended that both parties conducted investigations into the allegations.</p>
<p>In  an opinion piece published Saturday in The Washington Post, Goldstone  criticized Hamas for failing to conduct &#8220;any investigations into the  launching of rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.&#8221;</p>
<p>Goldstone praised Israel for launching investigations, although he noted that few of these have been concluded.</p>
<p><strong>Hamas: Report was not Goldstone&#8217;s &#8220;private production&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>In  a statement Sunday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri questioned  Goldstone&#8217;s regret over the report, and noted that Israel refused to  cooperate with the UN investigators &#8220;while in Gaza they were welcomed  and their work was facilitated&#8221;</p>
<p>The Hamas official also noted  that Goldstone did not have sole authority over the report, which was an  international document and not his &#8220;private production.&#8221;</p>
<p>Abu  Zuhri added: &#8220;The report is not the private property of Goldstone, as it  was co-authored by him and a group of international judges.</p>
<p>&#8220;Furthermore, the report was based on documents and testimonies giving it credibility and strength.&#8221;</p>
<p>Senior  Islamic Jihad leader Ahmad Al-Mudallal also expressed his  disappointment in Goldstone&#8217;s comments, which he said resulted &#8220;from  pressure exerted on him by the zionist lobby&#8221;</p>
<p>He added that  Israel might take Goldstone&#8217;s remarks as a pretext to wage a new war  against the Gaza Strip  and &#8220;commit more massacres.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Israel calls on UN to rescind report</strong></p>
<p>Israeli  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Goldstone&#8217;s  commentary &#8220;confirmed what we all knew all along&#8230; I think our soldiers  and army behaved according to the highest international standards.</p>
<p>&#8220;We expect this farce to be rectified immediately,&#8221; he added, during a brief televised address.</p>
<p>Israel&#8217;s  Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the Washington Post opinion piece was  &#8220;an extremely important development and right now we are multiplying our  efforts to get this report rescinded.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Goldstone: Israel&#8217;s process of investigation underway</strong></p>
<p>In  Goldstone&#8217;s commentary, he refers to the Israeli army&#8217;s investigation  into its soldiers&#8217; killing of 29 members of the Samouni family in their  home in Gaza.</p>
<p>&#8220;While the length of this investigation is  frustrating, it appears that an appropriate process is underway, and I  am confident that if the officer is found to have been negligent, Israel  will respond accordingly.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, in the recent UN report by  independent experts charged with following up on Goldstone&#8217;s  recommendations, the committee said it did &#8220;not have sufficient  information to establish the current status of the on-going criminal  investigations into the killings of Ateya and Ahmad Samouni, the attack  on the Wa&#8217;el Al-Samouni house and the shooting of Iyad Samouni.&#8221;</p>
<p>The  committee noted that the officer who approved airstrikes that killed 21  members of the family was &#8220;allegedly&#8221; aware that civilians had been  ordered to wait in the home. The same officer refused to allow  ambulances to access the area.</p>
<p>However, the committee found that  Israeli military investigators &#8220;did not conclude that there had been  anything out of the ordinary in the strike.&#8221;</p>
<p>The committee said  it was &#8220;unable to determine whether any investigation has been carried  out&#8221; by Israel in relation to several other allegations of war crimes.</p>
<p>The  follow-up report added: &#8220;The Committee reiterates the conclusion of its  previous report that there is no indication that Israel has opened  investigations into the actions of those who designed, planned, ordered  and oversaw Operation Cast Lead.&#8221;</p>
<p>Israeli forces killed over  1,400 Palestinians during the 22-day offensive on the besieged coastal  enclave, which began on December 27.</p>
<p><strong>AFP contributed to this report</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375061">Source</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Related</h3>
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<li><a href="http://nevercastleadagain.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Never Cast Lead Again</strong></a> | Memorial Site</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://nevercastleadagain.wordpress.com/in-pictures/" target="_blank">Cast Lead in Pictures</a></strong></li>
<li><a href="http://nevercastleadagain.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank"><strong>Cast Lead </strong></a>| The Massacre</li>
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<li> <strong><a href="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/goldstone%e2%80%99s-backtrack-some-points-to-remember/" target="_blank">Goldstone’s Backtrack: Some points to remember</a> </strong>| Mondoweiss | Apr 2, 2011<strong><a href="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/goldstone%e2%80%99s-backtrack-some-points-to-remember/" target="_blank"><br />
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<li><strong> <a href="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/goldstone-%e2%80%9capology%e2%80%9d-won%e2%80%99t-make-us-stop-talking-of-occupation%e2%80%99s-crimes/" target="_blank">Goldstone “apology” won’t make us stop talking of occupation’s crimes</a> </strong>| +972 Magazine | Apr 2, 2011<strong><a href="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/goldstone-%e2%80%9capology%e2%80%9d-won%e2%80%99t-make-us-stop-talking-of-occupation%e2%80%99s-crimes/" target="_blank"><br />
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<li><strong><a href="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/what-the-goldstone-op-ed-doesn%E2%80%99t-say/">What the Goldstone op-ed doesn’t say</a></strong> | Mondoweiss | Apr 3, 2011</li>
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