Palestine welcomes decision to investigate Israeli crimes

The Palestinian Authority welcomed a decision by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNCHR) to form an independent international commission to investigate Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.

The PA's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the council's decision "reflects the international community's persistence to implement international law and protect Palestinian human rights," said the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"Forming the commission came in implementation of Palestine's decision in the council during its special session number 30," it recalled, adding that the commission will look into Israeli violations of humanitarian and international human rights law in the Palestinian territories since April 13.

The UNCHR President Nazhat Shameem Khan announced the appointment of Navi Pillay, Miloon Kothari, and Chris Sidoti as the three members of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (CIOPT).

Pillay, a South African who was the former chief of the UNCHR, will serve as the chair of the new three-person commission, which was also tasked with investigating "all underlying root cause of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict."