It also called Israel’s longstanding economic blockade of Gaza a form of “collective punishment” against the population. This blockade has deprived Gazans of means of subsistence, housing and water and “could lead a competent court to find that the crime of persecution, a crime against humanity, had been committed.” The report demand the Security Council to refer the findings to the International Criminal Court in The Hague if Israel fails to undertake its investigations about these facts within six months. The ICC is a body set up to try war crimes.
The Israeli government refused to cooperate or to meet the Goldstone commission and banned it from entering Israel abd the West Bank. It was, however, free to work in Gaza, where it was able to carry out inspections in situ and to interview nearly 200 witnesses and victims. It also talked to Palestinians and Israelis in Geneva. “I accepted (to chair the commission) in the belief that Israel would cooperate,” Goldstone said. “That turned out to be a naïve expectation.”
