By SOMINI SENGUPTA
November 10, 2014
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations secretary general announced on Monday that a five-member panel would investigate the attacks on more than 100 United Nations facilities and the death of 11 of its staff members during the Gaza conflict during the summer, defying Israeli demands to wait until the conclusion of its own government inquiry.
The United Nations usually conducts such in-house inquiries into events that affect its staff and property. Yet this panel established by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also seek to address Israel’s chief complaint: the question of how weapons ended up in some United Nations compounds in Gaza.
“The secretary general expects that the board will enjoy the full cooperation of all parties concerned,” his office said in a statement.
The announcement, which comes amid escalating tensions in Jerusalem, follows several tense meetings between senior Israeli and United Nations officials over the past six weeks. Israel is conducting its own investigation, and it had pressed the secretary general to hold off on appointing a panel until its conclusion.
Interactive Map | Assessing the Damage and Destruction in GazaThe damage to Gaza’s infrastructure from the current conflict is already more severe than the destruction caused by either of the last two Gaza wars.
During the 50-day conflict in July and August, the United Nations said it had repeatedly informed the Israeli military of exactly where its facilities were, but that those facilities came under fire nevertheless. Israel in turn said that it did not target United Nations premises, and accused Palestinian militants of using United Nations buildings to stash weapons. At the time, United Nations officials took pains to say that those arms had been found in abandoned buildings, and that it was their employees who had found the weapons and publicly condemned those responsible.
In 2009, a similar inquiry into attacks on United Nations facilities in Gaza prompted Israel to pay $10 million in compensation. The scale of damage was far greater in July and August of this year.
The United Nations said in early November that 1,500 civilians had been killed in Gaza, including 538 children, along with five civilians in Israel. Its own premises came under fire in seven separate incidents, killing at least 42 people who were taking refugee in United Nations-run schools.
The board of inquiry will be led by Patrick Cammaert, a Dutch general who has led several peacekeeping missions, and includes veteran United Nations officials from Argentina, Canada, India and the United States.
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(via NY Times)
