'No hope' in UN pick for Gaza probe

Hamas has criticized the UN's decision to appoint a Jewish judge to head a probe into the war crimes committed in Gaza by Israelis. 

Hamas Minister of Justice Mohammed al-Ghoul told reporters on Saturday that the appointment was clear support for Israel's conduct in Gaza. 

Richard Goldstone, a South African Jewish judge, was appointed by President of the UN Human Rights Council Martin Uhomoibhi on Friday to play the leading role in an internationally-urged probe into Israeli war crimes during the three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

The fact-finding mission is set to start an inquiry as Israel has previously snubbed human rights investigations, arguing that the Human Rights Council is biased. 

The appointment is believed to be an attempt to appease Israeli opposition to the investigation. The decision has also raised fears of Palestinian refusal to cooperate on the issue. 

Al-Ghoul added that the government of Ismail Haniya calls for the probe into Israel's war crimes against civilians in Palestine, but holds no hope for the fact-finding groups that have been repeatedly dispatched by the United Nations. 

Calls for an inquiry into Israeli war crimes come at a time when a Palestinian human rights group has put the number of Palestinian death toll in the recent offensive against Gaza at 1,417 -- 926 of whom civilians. 

Thirteen Israelis were also killed in the Operation Cast Lead in the coastal strip among which three were civilians. 

Goldstone, the former UN chief prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, will be accompanied by British human rights professor Christine Chinkin, Pakistani lawyer Hina Jilani and retired Irish Army colonel Desmond Travers. 

The mission's mandate has been based on a resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council during a special January 12 session. 

The 47 member-state forum condemned Israel for 'grave violations' of human rights during its assault on Gaza and called for an international probe.