UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms Mary Robinson has demanded a halt to all military operations and attacks conducted by both Israel and the Palestinians. She said all sides must be made accountable for abuse.
In a report to a UN human rights forum on violence in the occupied territories and Israel, Ms Robinson said there was an urgent need for a "comprehensive" independent investigation into alleged human rights abuse and breaches of humanitarian law".
"There needs to be accountability on all sides for what has happened, as well as steps taken to ensure that in future proper rules and safeguards are in place to prevent violations of the human rights of both peoples," she said in an unedited version of the report released by the UN.
"The military operation must be brought to an end. Equally all attacks against Israeli civilians must end," Ms Robinson said.
The report to the annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission here follows the collapse of efforts by Ms Robinson - which were backed by the 53-member commission - to conduct her own fact-finding mission to the area.
Israel did not give a green light for the three-person mission, according to Ms Robinson's office, leaving the high commissioner to compile a 13-page report based largely on second-hand sources in the field.
The report quotes a range of sources, including UN agencies, the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, international and local Red Cross and human rights groups.
The report quotes a Palestinian Red Crescent figure of 217 Palestinian deaths and 498 injured during the Israeli incursions between March 29th and April 21st, but notes that it still needs confirmation since aid workers did not have access to all areas.
The Israeli authorities reported about 1,200 people arrested since the start of the military operation, but Ms Robinson's report also quotes Israeli human rights group B'Tselem as saying it had information from the Israeli military of 2,521 Palestinians detained.
AFP