Israel has ordered its military forces to impose a total closure on the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territory for 48 hours.

The closure was enforced Thursday midnight amid reports on the possibility of fresh protests by Palestinians around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (al-Quds) after Friday prayers. The closure is to be lifted on Saturday night.

According to witnesses, Israeli police forces are increasing presence in al-Quds due to concerns that riots may break out in the holy city and spill over into the West Bank.

During the closure, entrance to the mainly Arab eastern sector of al-Quds will only be open to some 1,000 church employees, 550 teachers, 50 Palestinian Waqf employees and some 100 employees of religious bodies.

Riots broke out last week in al-Quds following Tel Aviv regime’s decision to illegally add the Ibrahimi Mosque and the Mosque of Bilal bin Rabah to its list of Israeli heritage sites.

This week’s tensions appear to focus on the new Israeli plan to build 1,600 new Jewish homes in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of the occupied West Bank it has annexed to al-Quds.

The Palestinian Prime Minister says that the Arab League decision to back the US-sponsored talks with Israel accelerated Tel Aviv’s settlement drive in Jerusalem (Al-Quds).

“The decision encouraged Zionists to push ahead their settlement expansion in the West Bank. Israeli plan to build hundreds of homes whilst the US Vice President Joe Biden is on a visit to the region truly shows American cover to such a settlement plan,” Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday.

The senior Hamas official also called on Arab nations and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority not to move forward with the proposed peace talks. He said they should instead attempt to bring Palestinians together and support Palestinian resistance against “the Zionist occupation.”

However, the Arab League withdrew its support for indirect talks between the two sides on Wednesday due to the recent Israeli declaration on new settlement activities in al-Quds. A final decision is expected from the Arab foreign ministers amid concerns that they are heavily influenced by the US, the chief sponsor of Israel and the so-called Middle East peace talks.

Israel’s Interior Ministry on Tuesday said it had approved the construction of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in the mainly Arab eastern section of al-Quds.

The announcement sparked swift condemnation from Britain, China, Lebanon, Russia, Turkey, the United States and a number of other countries.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Israel that initiating a new military conflict in the Middle East would not save it from downfall.

Speaking in the southern Iranian Province of Hormozagan on Thursday, Ahmadinejad said that Israel was a Western prodigy that had now “reached the end of its road.”

“See what has become of Israel. They [the West] gathered the most criminal people in the world and stationed them in our region with lies and fabricated scenarios. They waged wars, committed massive aggression… and made millions of people homeless,” he told a crowd of supporters in the provincial capital, Bandar-Abbas.

“Today, it is clear that Israel is the most hated regime in the world… It is not useful for its masters [the West] anymore. They are in doubt now. They wonder whether to continue spending money on this regime or not,” said Ahmadinejad.

“But whether they want it or not, with god’s grace, this regime will be annihilated and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen,” he added.

The top Iranian executive official pointed out that he did not believe that “even a new military conflict” could save the Israeli regime.

“They think in their underdeveloped minds that if they launch another war against Lebanon or Syria it might help them survive a little longer. I am telling them that you are in a situation now that more aggressions or wars will not save you.”

Ahmadinejad also advised the US and its allies to pull their troops out of the Middle East and stop “making mischief.”

“What are you doing in our region? Why are you deploying military forces here,” he asked.

“If you think military deployment will help you seize the oil in Iraq and in the Persian Gulf, I must tell you that the young generation of the Middle East will cut your hands off from the oil reserves of the Persian Gulf,” he added.

Israel has approved the construction of hundreds of new housing units in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds amid reports of US-led resumption of talks between Tel Aviv and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA).

Tel Aviv’s interior ministry said in a statement that it had approved the building of 1,600 housing units for settlers in al-Quds, Israeli daily Haarerz reported.

The units will be constructed in addition to the ultra-Orthodox Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, expanding the settlement both to the east and to the south, according to the statement.

The Israeli announcement coincided with the visit by US Vice President Joe Biden who hailed the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks with US mediation through its Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

In meetings with Mitchell this week, the two sides agreed to resume ‘peace’ talks suspended since December 2008, Washington announced.

The talks remained stalled as Tel Aviv ignored Palestinian and initial US calls for a halt to settlement activities on Palestinian lands.

Observers emphasize that the PA’s agreement with Washington’s demand for the resumption of talks without any consideration to the long-standing demand to halt settlement activities, further emboldens the US-sponsored Israeli regime to push through all its illegitimate demands in the name of peace.

They also insist that the current trend will further aggravate the Palestinian situation leading to an all-out resistance against Tel Aviv.

Israel seized al-Quds along with the West Bank from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in defiance of the international community.

The regime claims the holy city as its “eternal, indivisible” capital, while the Palestinian Authority wants at least the implementation of the UN resolutions, which assign the control of the eastern part of the city to them.

The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas and its sizable followers, however, totally reject Tel Aviv’s claim to al-Quds and insist that the holy city belongs to Palestinians in its entirety.

Marchers in Tehran staged a funeral procession for symbolic coffins of America, Israel and Britain in the February 11 rally Thursday.

The coffins were carried over 3 carts pulled by several horses. The flags of the three countries were attached to the coffins.

The marchers were chanting slogans against America and Israel.

The Leader of Islam Ummah and Opressed People Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Israel is moving in a downward spiral that will lead to its collapse.

“During its sixty-year existence, the Zionist regime (Israel) has become the symbol of evil, oppression and injustice,” the Leader added.

“I am very optimistic about the future of Palestine,” Ayatollah Khamenei told Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ramadan Abdullah in Tehran on Sunday.

The Leader said that Israel’s failure to take over the Gaza Strip after over two years of keeping the costal territory under blockade was similar to a “miracle” and added, “Although the regime benefitted from all kinds of financial and political support, it could not break the resistance of the Palestinian nation.”

Imam Ali Khamenei pointed to support of certain Arab states for Israel, saying, “Certainly, such efforts will bear no fruit because Muslim nations always support the Palestinian cause.”

The Leader expressed Iran’s full support for Palestine and described faith as the motive behind the Palestinians’ resistance against Israel.

Abdullah, for his part, touched on Israel’s aggressive policies in the region and said the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and resistance movements are ready to counter all “stupid” moves by the Zionist enemy.

In an official report to the United Nations, Israel acknowledged that its military had “endangered human life” through the use of phosphorous munitions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In Israel’s response to the Goldstone report on war crimes in Gaza, the regime admitted that its military forces fired white phosphorous bombs at a heavily populated area on January 15, 2009 in Gaza, Reuters reported.

The shells that damaged a UN Relief and Works Agency compound contained incendiary white phosphorus, the use of which is condemned by human rights groups.

According to the Israeli document, two senior officers, Brigadier-General Eyal Eisenberg and Colonel Ilan Malka, “exceeded their authority in approving the use of phosphorus shells”.

The document also mentioned that the shells were fired “in violation of the rules of engagement prohibiting use of such artillery near populated areas.” It added that the officers, who still run their previous posts, have been disciplined.

Eisenberg still heads Israel’s Gaza division and Malka, an infantry brigade commander, is still in charge of military operations in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military, however, has denied reprimanding the officers, Haaretz reported on Monday.

A report released by a UN fact-finding team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone in September 2009 accused Israeli military forces of war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

The United Nations General Assembly later adopted a resolution giving Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake “independent, credible investigations” into serious violations of international law and human rights committed during the conflict in Gaza.

According to the Goldstone report Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during the war which killed more than 1,350 Palestinians in the territory.

Israel has almost completed a rebuttal to the Goldstone report which criticizes Tel Aviv for committing war crimes in its last year war on the Gaza Strip.

According to a report published by The New York Times, the rebuttal which, according to Israeli, includes “photographic proof” that contradicts war crime charges, aims to dispel the harsh report of grave violation of international and humanitarian law in Gaza.

The rebuttal which will be given to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the coming weeks was put together by Israel’s National Security Council, the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, and the military prosecutor.

The UN report led by former South African judge, Richard Goldstone concluded last September that Israel carried out “deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects” in January-December war on Gaza.

The 575-page UN-ordered report asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags.

The report also accused Hamas of infringing international conventions.

In November 2009, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that accuses Israel of war crimes and criminal acts against humanity during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

A hundred fourteen states endorsed the resolution while only 18 states including the US and Israel objected to the report’s adoption. Forty-four countries also abstained including France, Britain and Russia.

Israel however dismissed the UN report as “one-sided.”

“We ourselves set up investigations into 140 complaints,” said Maj. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, the Israeli military advocate general.

“It is when you read these other reports and complaints that you realize how truly vicious the Goldstone report is,” he added.

Some details revealed to the Times shows the rebuttal includes some photos of Gaza’s sole flour mill destructed during the war. According to the Goldstone report, the Bader flour mill “was hit by an airstrike, possibly by an F-16.”

Israel however dismisses the report and says it has “photographic proof” that the mill was accidentally hit by artillery in the course of a firefight with Hamas fighters.

The second case concerned the destruction of a wastewater plant which the UN report contended that was hit by a “deliberate and premeditated” powerful Israeli missile strike. The Israelis however accuse Hamas of destroying the infrastructure.

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says he is confident that any new conflict with Israel would see the Lebanese resistance movement emerge victorious and change the face of the Middle East region.

“I promise you, in view of all the threats you hear today… that should a new war with the Zionists erupt, we will crush the enemy, come out victorious, and change the face of the region,” he said in Beirut on Friday.

“The future of this region is the resistance, dignity, and freedom. God willing, Israel, the occupation, hegemony, and arrogance are in the process of disappearing,” Nasrallah stated.

Nasrallah said that Israel was again beating the drums of war to try to restore its military’s reputation as an invincible regional force.

In July 2006, Hezbollah resistance forces fired on an Israeli patrol in the border area, killing three Israeli soldiers and capturing two of them. Israel responded by bombarding parts of southern and eastern Lebanon, then widened the bombing campaign to cover most of Lebanon in what became a 33-day all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel. Hezbollah retaliated with intense, daily missile barrages that hit northern Israel and as far south as Haifa.

Then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert vowed to destroy Hezbollah’s military capacity. Hezbollah pledged not to halt its barrage until Israel ceased its operations, which included widespread incursions into south Lebanon.

It was not until August 14 that a cease-fired brokered by the United Nations ended hostilities. About 1,000 people, mostly Lebanese civilians, were killed, and 1 million Lebanese civilians and some 300,000 to 400,000 Israelis were temporarily displaced. Both Lebanon and Israel’s economies suffered, although Lebanon’s suffered far more since much of its infrastructure — roads, bridges, and electricity and water plants — was damaged by Israel’s bombing campaign.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slams the US, Britain and Israel for what he calls instigating another war in the region.

Speaking to thousands of people in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Ahmadinejad said that the fabrication of Israel and the sending of arms to the Middle East were aimed at dominating the region and maintaining Western interests.

“The Zionist regime [of Israel] has been fabricated for the sake of dominating the Middle East region,” he said. “Realizing the fact that they cannot achieve their goal through deception, they have resorted to military expeditions, launching wars and occupation.”

President Ahmadinejad said that even the 9/11 attacks are believed by many experts to have been a US-Israeli plot to occupy Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Iranian president slammed Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Yemen war, saying that Riyadh had better used its weapons against the Zionists.

“The arms sold by the West to Saudi Arabia are being used against the people of the region and Muslims instead of protecting them against the Zionists,” Ahmadinejad said, urging the Saudi government to contribute to the establishment of peace in Yemen.

The Iranian president also urged Yemeni parties to resolve the crisis through negotiation, be wary of the plots hatched by the enemies and protect the region from insecurity.

“Insecurity will help the arrogant powers of the world to interfere in regional affairs and we should hamper the opportunistic objectives of the enemies.”

The president also urged the Pakistani government and nation to maintain their unity and be vigilant in the face of US plots.

“The US is only thinking of its own interests and the Pakistani people and government should not trust the United States,” President Ahmadinejad said.

Addressing the global arrogance, the Iranian president said that they have faced a deadlock and the people of Iran and the region have today realized their schemes and will resist their conspiracies.

“You have no choice but to end your inhumane actions and respect the rights of the Iranian people and the region,” he said, emphasizing that they would not be able to harm the people of Iran in any manner.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says the US, Britain, and Israel are implementing a plan to turn Yemen into another Afghanistan.

Addressing a group of students at Imam Sadeq University in Tehran on Monday, Mottaki said the three countries want to make Yemen the fourth Muslim country to be attacked after Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Mottaki added that the invasion and occupation of Yemen are going to be carried out under the pretext of the campaign against terrorism and Al-Qaeda.

Earlier this month, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama agreed to fight what they called terrorism in Yemen and Somalia.

The UK and the US decided to fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle the alleged threat from the country.

The US has been deeply involved in the war in Yemen, sending its special forces to train the Yemeni military and conducting air raids in both the northern and southern parts of the country.

The Iranian foreign minister called on the Yemeni government and regional countries to help resolve the “tragic” situation of the poor country.

Mottaki said the United States invaded Afghanistan eight years ago under the pretext of fighting extremism and drug production in the war-torn country.

But the war has brought nothing but insecurity and extremism, he noted.

Mottaki said drug production has also dramatically risen in Afghanistan as a result of the military intervention.

The military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine has warned that armed Palestinian groups will confront Israel if its attacks on Gaza continue.

The remark was made by an Al-Quds Brigades spokesman on Friday.

According to Palestinian fighters, Israel is attempting to provoke violence by stepping up attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The warning comes after Israeli warplanes bombed several parts of the impoverished territory early on Friday.

At least three Palestinians were killed and several more injured in the overnight Israeli airstrike on Gaza.

According to an Israeli TV channel, Tel Aviv is planning a massive attack, which it plans to follow up with the occupation of Gaza.

The United States and Israel have not yet reached the point of discussing a military option against Iran to halt Tehran’s nuclear program, Israel’s ambassador to the US says.

Washington and Tel Aviv will focus on sanctions against Iran in 2010, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday.

“I’m very confident in America’s commitment to dissuading Iran from enriching uranium on its soil, which is our common goal,” Oren said.

“Our positions on Iran completely dovetail and we have very close cooperation and communication,” he added.

Asked whether Israel is facing any US pressure over the issue of possible military action, Oren said, “It’s not a subject that comes up. It’s not a subject of discussion. It’s not a subject of conversation between us because we’re not there yet. We’re far away from that.”

“Right now the main focus is on the formulation and the application of the sanctions. That’s where we are,” he stated.

Israel, which is the only player in the Middle East that possesses nuclear weapons, has repeatedly declared its determination to halt Iran’s nuclear program, even through the military option.

Yet, unlike Israel, Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has declared that its nuclear program has no military objectives.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

In apparent defiance of a recently announced plan for a moratorium on new construction work in the West Bank, Israel has approved expanding settlements there.

The coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, approved the construction of 84 new settlement buildings on Wednesday, Haaretz reported.

According to the report, the approval came in a bid to ease tension among those Jewish settlers who vowed to defy the regime’s decision about a 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the occupied land.

The settlers blocked the roads and clashed with the inspectors who were to enforce the moratorium on construction on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, however, vowed to resume settlement construction after a “one-time, temporary” moratorium.

The move which excluded annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds as well as the construction of public buildings in the West Bank has been refused by the Palestinians who described it as being insufficient to resume peace negotiations.

The intelligence chiefs of the United States, Israel, Egypt and Jordan have held an unprecedented secret meeting to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.

The conclave of intelligence chiefs was held in Amman in the first week of November, reported DEBKA an Israeli web site which has close links to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

The chief of Jordan’s General Intelligence Service, Gen. Muhammad Raqed hosted the meeting, which was attended by senior officials of the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Defense Intelligence Agency, Israel’s Mossad chief, Meir Dagan and military intelligence head Brig. Amos Yadlin along with Egypt’s intelligence minister, Gen. Omar Suleiman.

The report comes as Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Sky News on November 7 that Tel Aviv’s persistent threats to attack Iran are not just a bluff.

Israel and its staunchest ally, the US, continue to insist that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon program, while lacking any evidence to prove their claim.

The reports by International Atomic Energy Agency issued so far — and even reports released by the United States’ main intelligence agencies — all point to the contrary.

Tehran, an Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)-signatory, has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction across the globe.

Israel, which has so far refused to sign the NPT, is believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear arms in the Middle East with over 200 ready-to-launch warheads in its stockpile.

Iranian permanent mission to the UN strongly rejected a recent allegation by the Israeli regime that an Iranian cargo ship with Antigua flag sought to smuggle arms for Hezbollah, stressing that the baseless claim is a move to divert the world public opinion from Goldstone’s report on Israel’s crime in Gaza.

As the UN Fact-Finding committee’s report on Gaza issue led by Richard Goldstone was being examined in the UN General Assembly meeting, Israeli representative at the UN pointed out to seizure of the ship and said anti-tank missiles were seen among the weapons and claimed that the weapons were heading for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran’s permanent representative who was present in the meeting rejected Israel’s claim and underlined that the issue seeks diverting the world’s public opinion from Goldstone’s report.

“This is not the first time that Zionist regime discusses such claims, Iran strongly rejects the allegation and it believes that the move seeks diverting public opinions from the consequences of examining the UN report on Israeli crimes in Gaza Strip which was approved unanimously by most of the UN members,” said a statement issued by Iran’s permanent mission.

The statement also pointed out to Israel’s letter to the UN Security Council Chief on Friday which accuses Iran of violating 1701 Resolution, weapon embargo for militia in Lebanon, and said, “Surely, Zionist regime has violated many UN Security Council resolutions.”

“The UN Secretary General in his recent report has explicitly discussed violation of resolutions by Zionist regime, so the regime does not have the right to discuss such baseless allegations against other countries.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that unity among Islamic countries, and particularly among Persian Gulf states, would definitely make the situation difficult for the Zionist regime.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks on Thursday in a meeting with visiting Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani.

The two heads of state also discussed ways to expand relations in all areas.

Ahmadinejad said Tehran-Doha ties are based on “mutual respect, trust, and brotherhood.”

He pointed to the improved political relations between the two countries but noted that they should also make efforts to increase cooperation in other areas.

The good relationship between Iran and Qatar will benefit both nations as well as the entire region, the president opined.

The Qatari emir described relations between the two countries as strategic, saying, “This strategy will not change.”

He also said that Doha wants Tehran to strengthen its ties with Persian Gulf Cooperation Council states and that Qatar is ready to help Iran in this regard.

And protecting the interests of Islamic nations is the common goal of Tehran and Doha, the Qatari emir noted.

Negotiation best way to promote regional security

In a separate meeting with the Qatari emir on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that regional countries should hold talks and reach a consensus on regional issues in order thwart certain countries’ efforts to sow discord between them.

Arranging talks between regional nations is the best way to promote security in the region, Mottaki observed.

Pointing to the critical situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he criticized certain foreign elements for promoting terrorism and extremism in the region.

Commenting on the crises in Palestine, Gaza and Lebanon, he said if an appropriate strategy is not formulated to resolve the crises, the situation will become worse.

The two sides also discussed ways to improve bilateral ties and cooperation on international issues.

Mottaki said that the Iranian and Qatari private sectors should utilize their great potential to help expand bilateral cooperation in trade, industrial, and infrastructure projects.

The Qatari emir stressed the importance of talks between the two countries for the promotion of bilateral cooperation.

And the two countries should find ways to strengthen their regional and bilateral relations, he added.

The Hezbollah movement has slammed the recent report by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the resolution 1701 and described it as “unjust” and targeting the Lebanese resistance.

“The report describes more than 10,000 air, land and sea violations against Lebanon since 14 August 2006 as breaching to UN resolution 1701; yet it continuously stresses on a few limited incidents which occurred in Lebanon,” the Lebanese resistance movement said in a statement issued on Thursday.

“Which assault is more dangerous? The continuation of Israeli violations, espionage activities, spy cells, launching rockets on South Lebanon and statements which assure that Israel will continue to gather intelligence from Lebanon…. or a limited number of incidents which do not equate the constant Israeli violations?” Hezbollah wondered.

Hezbollah also questioned why the report only briefly mentions the Israeli hostilities in a few sentences while at the same time goes into details and magnifies the danger of every single incident which occurs in the Lebanese territory.

“Is it a usual and impulsive issue as to Israel’s decision not to leave the Ghajar village? Shouldn’t it be efficiently raised and discussed at the Security Council where Israel is demanded to immediately withdraw from this territory or be sanctioned. Is the continued occupation of Sheba’a farms and Kafarshouba hills something natural and normal, or is it required that Israel withdraw from these lands unconditionally without making any false justifications?” the Lebanese movement asked.

Hezbollah concluded that the report should have shed more light on the Israeli hostilities, which have caused fear and instability in the region, rather than ignoring the Israeli violations and, in effect, encourage “the Zionist entity” to carry on its aggression against Lebanon and its people.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon claimed in his recently released report that the continued presence of Hezbollah and Palestinian combatants in Lebanon poses a serious threat to the government in Beirut and to the regional stability.

Observers believe that the Secretary General’s stance reflect, rather precisely, the Israeli intrusive policy of demanding that Hezbollah should not have a role in the Lebanese government. Such a declaration by the head of the world body is viewed as yet another indication of the dominating US influence on the so-called “international community.”

Gaza-based Palestinian government said on Wednesday the Palestinian fighters are ready to confront Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip if the regime carried out its threats to attack Gaza.

“We only have fire to receive the arrogant enemy and it will find nothing in gaza but resistance,” Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, told reporters.

Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades of Hamas “and all the honest fighters are dealing seriously with any Zionist threat,” Abu Obaida added.

Abu Obaida’s remarks followed statements by the Zionist regime’s army chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Tuesday that his forces’ “next battle will be in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.”

The Palestinians have warned that they will seek justice for the case of Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through the International Criminal Court.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, urged the General Assembly on Wednesday to support a resolution that called on Israel and the Palestinians to carry out independent investigations into human rights violations during the Gaza war, AP reported.

The resolution was proposed after a report released by South African Judge Richard Goldstone concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December-January offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza strip.

It also accused Hamas of infringing international conventions.

Mansour, however, said Israel’s “aggressions and crimes” cannot be equated “with actions committed in response by the Palestinian side.”

“We are determined to follow up this report and its recommendations in all relevant international forums, including the Security Council and the International Criminal Court, until the realization of justice,” he added.

But Israel’s UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev claimed that “the Goldstone report and this debate do not promote peace – they damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our region.”

The report recommended that the case be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague if the two sides fail to start an investigation into the crimes within six months.