U.N. Rights Body Set To Condemn Israel Again
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
GENEVA — The new U.N. Human Rights Council will hold a special session this week in a move initiated by Islamic countries to condemn Israel for its military offensive in Lebanon, officials said yesterday.
In a session last month, the council voted 29–11 against Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
The council will “consider and take action on the gross human rights violations by Israel in Lebanon,” according to the request filed by Tunisia on behalf of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference.
The statement said the council should consider the July 30 Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese town of Qana, which killed 28 people, as well as “countrywide targeting of innocent civilians and destruction of vital civilian infrastructure.”
The chief spokeswoman in Geneva for the United Nations, Marie Heuze, said the council would meet either Thursday or Friday. The session was called because 16 countries, backed Tunisia’s request for the session. Non-Arab countries signing the petition included China, Cuba, Russia, and South Africa.
