UN chief Ban Ki-moon says that he would soon transmit to the Security Council a controversial report alleging that Israel and the Palestinians committed war crimes during the Gaza war nearly a year ago.
"As requested by the General Assembly, I will transmit the report to the Security Council," he told reporters on Friday a day after the 192-member assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling on both sides in the Gaza conflict to launch credible, independent probes of the alleged war crimes.
"I will do it as soon as possible," added Ban, who in line with UN procedures has to comply with the assembly's request.
Earlier on Friday, Israel rejected the General Assembly's non-binding resolution, which was approved Thursday by a vote of 114 in favour and 18 against, with 44 abstentions.
"Israel rejects the resolution of the UN General Assembly, which is completely detached from realities on the ground that Israel must face," its foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that during the 22-day war, which ended in January and killed some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, the Israeli military "demonstrated higher military and moral standards than each and every one of this resolution's instigators."
Israel, which had strenuously opposed the assembly resolution and the UN report that it endorsed, voted against it as did its staunchest ally, the United States, along with Australia and a few European countries.
The 575-page report by a panel led by respected former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone recommended that its findings be transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague if Israel and the Hamas rulers of Gaza fail to conduct credible investigations into the war.
From the outset, Israel rejected the Goldstone report as biased and refused to cooperate with the UN inquiry panel.
