UN investigator resigns over anti-Israel allegations

Canadian law professor and genocide expert William Schabas told Israel Radio that he was resigning as head of a United Nations commission investigating alleged human rights violations during last summer's war in Gaza because he "was becoming an obstacle and a distraction." He said he didn't want to detract from the commission's work.

Israel had strongly criticized the selection of Schabas to head the three-member team, claiming that both he and the UN Human Rights Council, which set up the commission, were biased against Israel.

Schabas had been a vocal critic of Israel and had offered his services to the Palestine Liberation Organization. After his appointment last year he assured his critics he would not allow his previous comments to influence investigations.

More than 2,000 people were killed in the most recent conflict in Gaza, which lasted for 50 days.

Shifting blame

Throughout the inquiry's duration Israel has refused to cooperate, calling the investigation "hostile" to Israel and having nothing to do with human rights.

The country's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused the UN of targeting Israel, saying in 2014 it made more judgments against Israel "than against Iran, Syria and North Korea combined."

He also demanded that the leaders of Gaza's Hamas government be investigated, calling them "war criminals who used residents of Gaza as human shields to fire at Israeli citizens."

Palestine called the comments tactical, saying they were intended to make it difficult "for anybody to take any position that would hold Israel accountable or investigating Israeli violations or Israeli war crimes."

Schabas' resignation comes just under a week after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights accused both Israel and Palestine of failing to fully investigate apparent human rights violations committed during the war.

Council spokesman Rolando Gomez said the commission was in the final phase of investigations and stressed the need to focus on the victims and their families.

A new commission head could be appointed as early as Tuesday.

A report on the probe is due to be released next month, to coincide with the next session of the rights council.

an/msh (dpa, AP, AFP)