Investigations by Israel and the Palestinians into violations of human rights during the Gaza conflict of 2008 and 2009 were inadequate in several respects, an expert committee led by the United Nations Human Rights Council said Tuesday. The committee’s conclusion could lead to calls for the suspected violations to be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. More than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died in the conflict after Israel started a military operation in Gaza in what it said was an attempt to halt rocket fire by the governing Islamist group, Hamas, on nearby Israeli towns. The committee said each side’s investigation into allegations of war crimes, human rights violations and possibly crimes against humanity remains “incomplete” or falls “significantly short of meeting international standards.”
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