UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay endorsed the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes in Gaza during a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Palestinians again clashed with Israeli security forces at the al-Aqsa Mosque—as protests mounted against Mahmoud Abbas’s capitulation on the Gaza war crimes probe.
Israeli soldiers used tear gas against Friday anti-wall protests in the West Bank villages of Bilin and Nilin.
Several Israeli military vehicles entered the Gaza Strip near al-Bureij refugee camp, according to local Palestinian sources.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Maxwell Gaylard said Israel’s two-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip is causing “a severe and protracted denial of human dignity.”
Knesset member Dove Hannen was one of hundreds of international and Israeli peace activists who was tear gassed by soldiers at the weekly anti-wall protest in the village of Bil’in.
Hamas security forces in Rafah battled armed militants of the Jund Ansar Allah (“Warriors of God”), who had earlier in the day declared the Gaza Strip an “Islamic emirate.”
The Israeli Defense Forces again raided the West Bank village of Bil’in, arresting seven Palestinians and one US solidarity activist. Since June, 25 village residents have been detained.
The IDF is conducting criminal investigations into “misconduct” by their soldiers during the Gaza Strip offensive. Israel has already rejected international reports on abuses in the Gaza campaign.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ordered embassies to use a photo of Hitler’s 1941 meeting with the Mufti of Jerusalem to counter criticism over a Jerusalem settlement project.
The Israeli Supreme Court ordered the IDF to refile indictments on more serious charges against a soldier and an officer accused of shooting a blindfolded prisoner with a rubber bullet.
Amnesty International accused Israeli forces of war crimes, saying they used children as human shields and conducted wanton attacks on civilians during their offensive in the Gaza Strip.
