Israel Matzav

'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups call for Hamas investigation

Eleven 'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups have called on Hamas to conduct a 'credible internal investigation' into whether the group committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead.

Goldstone said Israel used excessive force and Hamas terrorized Israeli civilians with indiscriminate rocket attacks.

The UN General Assembly adopted Goldstone's findings and gave both sides until Febuary 5 to investigate. Neither has done so. Israel and Hamas deny the allegations.

Shahwan Jabareen of the Palestinian group al-Haq said that Hamas told him it would investigate, but that he has not seen serious steps.

The JPost article from which that excerpt was taken shows a damaged house in Sderot that had been hit by a Kassam rocket. It appears more likely that the 'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups are concerned with Hamas liquidations of Fatah supporters during Operation Cast Lead, and not with indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.

In any event, the only one who would give any credibility to an investigation by Hamas is Goldstone himself. You may recall that last fall, Goldstone told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Hamas has a credible court system in which 'some people are sentenced to be executed.'

I'm sure Hamas would be happy to conduct an investigation and execute a few more Fatah supporters. But don't expect them to conduct a real investigation of their own war crimes anytime soon.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:32 AM