Barak against probe into Israeli war crimes in Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has strongly opposed the investigation of a UN report that accuses Israeli troops of committing war crimes during the recent war on the Gaza Strip.

Barak said in a Saturday statement that he fully trusted the investigations conducted earlier by the army on the troop's performance during the three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip, Ynet reported.

"There is not an army in the world that investigates itself this way," he said.

The minister's comments were in line with the regime's efforts to prevent a UN debate on a report prepared by former South African judge, Richard Goldstone on Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The report by a team of experts led by Goldstone, concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27-January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in the strip.

Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) if the sides involved the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months.

However, in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said he was "optimistic" about his request to "bury the Goldstone report".

He claimed that Ban had told him the Security Council would not discuss the report until he had considered the matter further, according to Ynet.

The UN General Assembly was expected to discuss the report by the end of the year after it was endorsed by the Human Rights Council.