Arab League welcomes UNHRC probe into Israeli war crimes

The Arab League on Sunday welcomed the UN Human Rights Council's resolution to create an international commission to investigate Israel's violations against the Palestinians.

In a statement, the Cairo-based Arab League said the resolution comes "in the light of the [Israeli] ethnic cleansing in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, Silwan neighborhood, and the aggression on Gaza".

Saeed Abu Ali, the Arab League assistant secretary-general, said the resolution "reflects the willingness of the international community to stand for their responsibilities towards what the Palestinian people are facing of massacres and violations."

Abu Ali called for accelerating the formation of the inquiry commission and piling pressure on Israel not to hinder its work.

On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution that calls for the urgent creation of an international independent investigation commission to probe Israel's human rights violations during its attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories since April 13.

The commission will investigate "all alleged violations of international humanitarian law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial, or religious identity," it added.

Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank killed at least 289 people, including women and children, and left behind a trail of destruction. Health centers, media offices, as well as schools were among the structures targeted.