GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Council decided Thursday to create an open-ended international investigation into violations surrounding the latest Gaza violence, and into 鈥渟ystematic鈥� abuses in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel.
The resolution, which passed with 24 of the council鈥檚 47 members in favor, will spur an unprecedented level of scrutiny on abuses and their 鈥渞oot causes鈥� in the decades-long Middle East conflict.
The text, which was presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was debated during a special one-day council session focused on the surge in deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians this month.
Opening the session, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet voiced particular concern about the 鈥渉igh level of civilian fatalities and injuries鈥� from the attacks on Gaza, and warned the Israeli attacks on the enclave 鈥渕ay constitute war crimes.鈥�
She also said Hamas鈥檚 鈥渋ndiscriminate鈥� firing of rockets at Israel was 鈥渁 clear violation of international humanitarian law.鈥�

Before a truce took hold last Friday, Israeli air strikes and artillery fire on Gaza killed 254 Palestinians, including 66 children, and wounded more than 1,900 people in 11 days of conflict, the health ministry in Gaza says.
A barrage of thousands of rockets and other fire from Gaza claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child and an Arab-Israeli teenager, medics say. Some 357 people in Israel were wounded.
Thursday鈥檚 resolution ordered the launching of an investigation into violations surrounding the latest violence, but also into 鈥渟ystematic鈥� abuses spurring a repetitive cycle of violence over the decades.
The council agreed to establish 鈥渁n ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry... in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel.鈥�
The investigators, the text said, should probe 鈥渦nderlying root causes of recurrent tensions and instability, including systematic discrimination and repression based on group identity.鈥�
The investigation should focus on establishing facts and gather evidence for legal proceedings, and should aim to identify perpetrators to ensure they are held accountable, it said.
It also urges countries to 鈥渞efrain from transferring arms when they assess... that there is a clear risk that such arms might be used in the commission or facilitation of serious violations or abuses.鈥�

Before the vote Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel鈥檚 ambassador to the UN in Geneva, slammed the session and the text, insisting they were yet another example of the council鈥檚 bias against Israel.
The resolution, she insisted, 鈥渉as nothing to do with reality, has nothing to do with human rights.鈥�
She urged countries not to back the resolution, which she said would 鈥渆mbolden and reward Hamas,鈥� a 鈥渞acist, genocidal, terrorist organization.鈥�
Israel, she insisted, 鈥渢ook all measures to protect civilians,鈥� but that Hamas鈥檚 鈥渢actics of hiding beneath residential buildings, maternity wards and mosques resulted in innocent loss of life.鈥�
鈥淵ou cannot be pro-Palestinian if you do not condemn Hamas,鈥� she said, stressing Israel鈥檚 right to defend itself.
Bachelet said her office had 鈥渘ot seen evidence鈥� that the buildings targeted in Gaza, including medical facilities and media offices, were 鈥渉osting armed groups or being used for military purposes.鈥�
Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki meanwhile accused Israel of instituting 鈥渁n apartheid system.鈥�
鈥淭he right to self defense and the right to resist occupation is a right we have as the Palestinian people,鈥� he said.

During the debate a wide range of countries decried the latest violence, stressing the need for urgent aid to Gaza and to resume talks toward a lasting, peaceful two-state solution.
Many highlighted the 14-year blockade on Gaza, settlement expansion, and evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes among root causes sparking continued tensions.
This month鈥檚 flare-up was ignited amid protests against the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to make way for Jewish settlers.
Tensions culminated in repeated clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli security forces inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, triggering the initial volleys of rocket fire from Gaza toward Israel on May 10.
Thursday鈥檚 vote created the council鈥檚 first ever open-ended commission of inquiry (COI) 鈥� the highest-level investigation that can be ordered by the council.
Other COIs, like the one on Syria, need their mandates renewed every year.
And while the council has previously ordered eight investigations into rights violations committed in the Palestinian territories, this is the first one with a mandate to examine 鈥渞oot causes鈥� in the drawn-out conflict, and also to probe systematic abuses committed within Israel.