Israel has informed the United Nations Human Rights Council that it is unlikely to cooperate with an investigation by the agency into alleged war crimes by Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists during recent fighting in Gaza.
An unnamed Israeli government official told Reuters that Israel has sent a letter to the agency through the Israeli embassy in Geneva, informing it that Israel believed it was "impossible to cooperate with the committee" in its inquiry.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) appointed former UN war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone to head the investigation into alleged of human rights violations by both sides during Operation 'Cast Lead'. Goldstone, too, received the letter, the Israeli official said.
The Israeli official said that most democratic countries did not support the resolution adopted by the UNHRC on January 12, which condemned Israel's military operation and called to halt it.
Hamas has yet to say whether it will cooperate with the investigation. Goldstone is expected to travel to the region a few weeks from now and will issue a report to the UNHRC in July.
Goldstone, a South African judge, served as the chief prosecutor of the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and chaired the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo.
From 1997 to 2004 he served as the president of World ORT, an international Jewish philanthropic group that focuses on training and education.