Turkey: UNSC should probe Israeli war crimes

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called for a report on the alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip to be reviewed by the UN Security Council.

A UN fact-finding mission led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone issued a report last week that said both the Israeli army and Palestinian militants had committed war crimes during the December-January war in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey, which is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, could annoy the US by its call for taking the report to the Security Council.

The US has said the report should be discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, not the Security Council.

"We will definitely take the position to discuss this issue on the Security Council," Erdogan told reporters in New York on Saturday.

The Turkish prime minister said through an interpreter that there should be "accountability" for anyone guilty of war crimes in Gaza.

"We're in favor of opening discussions on the Goldstone report. The guilty party should be identified and face the necessary sanctions," Reuters quoted Erdogan as saying.

Even if the Gaza war crimes case is taken to the Security Council, taking any measure against Israel is highly unlikely, because the US has traditionally used its power of veto to rule out any move against its main ally in the Middle East.

Gazans are still struggling to resume ordinary life months after Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" which resulted in the death of over 1,500 Palestinians and the injury of about 5,450.

Palestinian officials have warned about the spike in the number of birth defects in babies born in Gaza following the Israeli offensive on the coastal strip.

Eight months the Israeli offensive on the coastal strip, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Friday warned about the spike in the number of birth defects in babies born in Gaza.