Israel summons Philippine Ambassador over vote for UNHRC probe into Gaza hostilities

Moscow, May 30 (FN Bureau) The Israeli Foreign Ministry has summoned the Philippines’ ambassador to protest his country’s support for an investigation into Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip during the recent hostilities.? On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council voted 24-9, with 14 abstentions, to “investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights leading up to and since 13 April 2021.”

“The Ambassador of the Philippines to Israel, Macairog S. Alberto, has been summoned for a clarification discussion at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the Philippines’ vote at the Human Rights Council in favour of the establishment of an investigative committee against Israel over events surrounding Operation Guardian of the Walls,” the Israeli ministry said in a statement. Israel condemned the Philippines’ decision as a “reward for terrorism” and stressed that it was unacceptable.

The ministry went on to denounce the UN Human Rights Council as a biased and “anti-Israel” institution that allegedly ignores the crimes committed by the Gaza-based Hamas movement, including some 4,500 rockets launched at Israel during the 11-day conflict. Israel and Palestine’s Gaza Strip were locked in a bitter conflict for 11 days that ended with an Egypt-brokered ceasefire on May 20. The hostilities came after days of clashes between the Arab population and the Israeli police in East Jerusalem over an Israeli court’s decision to evict several Palestinian families from the holy city’s neighborhood. In Israel, 12 people were killed and over 50 were seriously wounded during the hostilities. The death toll among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, and the West Bank topped 270.