Israel urges UN to retract Goldstone Report - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Israel urges UN to retract Goldstone Report - Middle East - Al Jazeera English Israel has called on the United Nations to retract a report which said it had committed war crimes during its December 2008-January 2009 Gaza offensive, after its author said he may have been wrong. Richard Goldstone, the South African judge who led the UN investigation, said in a Washington Post column published on Friday that "if I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document," and likely less critical of Israel. Responding to Goldstone''s piece on Saturday, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel''s prime minister, urged the world body to "nullify" the report, saying it "must be thrown into the dustbin of history". Goldstone chaired a fact-finding mission which, in a 2009 report to the UN Human Rights Council, said both Israel and Hamas - which controls Gaza - were guilty of war crimes in the conflict. In depth Video: Interview with Richard Goldstone Timeline: Gaza War Analysis: War crimes in Gaza? Goldstone's full report to the UN rights council Key points of the Goldstone report UN inquiry finds Gaza war crimes 'Half of Gaza war dead civilians' PLO: History of a Revolution 'Israel has to be accountable'Al Jazeera is not responsible for external websites' content About 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and 13 Israelis were killed in the devastating war - named Operation Cast Lead - that was launched with Israel''s declared aim of ending cross-border rocket fire from Palestinian militants. Israel refused to cooperate with Goldstone''s mission and condemned his report as distorted and biased. http://samotalis.blogspot.com/