Geneva - A United Nations fact-finding mission will hold
hearings in the Gaza Strip next week and they will be broadcast live
to the public, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
The following week, the mission will fly Israelis to Geneva to
hold another round of public hearings. Palestinians from the West
Bank will also be able to go to Europe to testify.
'As it stands, we have not been given permission to hold the
hearings in Israel,' said Doune Porter, a spokeswoman for the
mission, explaining why the people from southern Israel would have to
travel to Switzerland.
'This mandate is completely balanced. We will be looking at all
sides,' she added.
Israel has said it would not cooperate with the mission, led by
South African Justice Richard Goldstone, alleging the mandate was
biased against the Jewish State.
Goldstone and his team went into Gaza earlier this month through
Egypt to conduct the first part of their investigation.
Though the hearings will be public, Porter said the mission would
also accept testimonies of people affected by the conflict in
southern Israel and the Gaza Strip in private settings, if they
prefer to remain anonymous.
Goldstone was the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and was a key legal
figure in South Africa's transition to democracy. He pushed for the
open hearings for the Gazans and Israelis.
Israel said it launched the December 27 to January 18 offensive in
Gaza in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants from the
coastal salient at its southern towns and villages.
According to the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
(PCHR), 1,417 Palestinians, most of them civilians, died in the
conflict, which also caused massive destruction. Thirteen Israelis
also died.
The hearings in Gaza City would take place on June 28-29 and in
Geneva on July 6-7.
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