Goldstone Report: Israel, Palestinians Committed War Crimes
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it is “appalled and disappointed” by a U.N. commission report that says Israel committed war crimes during its Gaza offensive.
The 600-page report by the United Nations commission, which was headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, concluded that “Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity,” during Operation Cast Lead in late December and January.
The report, which was released Tuesday, also found that the Palestinians committed war crimes by firing rockets into civilian areas in southern Israel.
Israel did not cooperate with the fact-finding mission, the ministry said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon, because “its mandate was clearly one-sided.”
“Both the mandate of the Mission and the resolution establishing it prejudged the outcome of any investigation, gave legitimacy to the Hamas terrorist organization and disregarded the deliberate Hamas strategy of using Palestinian civilians as cover for launching terrorist attacks,” the statement said.
“Notwithstanding its reservations, Israel will read the report carefully – as it does with all reports prepared by international and national organizations. Israel is committed to acting fully in accordance with international law and to examining any allegations of wrongdoing by its own forces.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Jill Sobule, pop star who also composed songs for a new ‘Yentl,’ dies at 66
-
Fast Forward The fires in Israel are under control — but debate is raging over their cause
-
Fast Forward Argentina declassifies more than 1,800 files on Nazi escape via ‘rat-lines’ to South America
-
Fast Forward Betar USA founder banned from World Zionist Congress over feud with Israeli firebrand Shai Davidai
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 4
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Jill Sobule, pop star who also composed songs for a new ‘Yentl,’ dies at 66
-
Yiddish צווישן טרער און מוט — צווישן געדענקען און אומאָפּהענגיקייטBetween tears and courage — between memory and resilience
הירהורים צום 77סטן געבוירן־טאָג פֿון מדינת־ישׂראל
-
Opinion Ireland’s prime minister gave condolences for Hitler’s death — here’s why that’s a contemporary problem
-
Fast Forward The fires in Israel are under control — but debate is raging over their cause
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.