UN Human Rights Council to hold 3rd Israel session

WORLD / Middle East

UN Human Rights Council to hold 3rd Israel session

(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-14 15:00

GENEVA - The new UN Human Rights Council said it will hold a third
special session Wednesday on Israel, focusing on alleged rights abuses in
Gaza.

US President George W. Bush (R) listens to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert as they take a few questions from the press after their Oval
Office meeting at the White House in Washington, DC. Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said that Israel and the US had "complete understanding" on Iran
as President George W. Bush threatened to isolate Tehran unless it
suspends its nuclear program. [AFP]

The council, created earlier this year to replace the highly politicized
and much-maligned UN Human Rights Commission, has drawn fire from the
United States for spending a great deal of time criticizing Israel. The
US is not a member of the body.

This week's meeting in Geneva was requested by Bahrain and Pakistan on
behalf of Arab and Muslim groups "to consider and take action on the
gross human rights violations emanating from Israeli military incursions"
in Gaza, the council said in a statement on Monday.

Israeli artillery killed 19 civilians Wednesday in the northern Gaza town
of Beit Hanoun amid an offensive meant to halt militant rocket attacks on
Israel.

The United States vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution Saturday
that sought to condemn Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and
demand Israeli troops pull out of the territory. US Ambassador John
Bolton said the Arab-backed draft resolution was "biased against Israel
and politically motivated."

The UN top rights watchdog, which took over from the former Human Rights
Commission in June, held two special sessions this summer to discuss an
earlier Israeli offensive in Gaza and the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.

US officials say the council has made a slow and discouraging start and
says it serves as a forum for political games.

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