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The United Nations General Assembly today, by a recorded vote of 114 in favour to 18 against, with 44 abstentions, adopted a resolution giving Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake “independent, credible investigations” into serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed during the conflict in Gaza that broke in late December 2008. (For vote details, see Annex.)

By its decision, the 192-member Assembly endorsed the report of the world body’s Geneva-based Human Rights Council on its twelfth special session, which had considered, on 15 and 16 October 2009, the output of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.  That Mission was led by renowned South African Jurist Richard Goldstone, and its report, widely known as the “Goldstone Report”, concluded that both Israel and Hamas had committed possible war crimes during the conflict.

The Assembly requested Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send the Goldstone Report to the Security Council.  It further recommended that the Swiss Government, as depositary of the Geneva Convention relating to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, take steps convene “as soon as possible” a Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, on measures to enforce that Conv... >>>