Saudi Arabia's cabinet on Monday welcomed the adoption of the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes during the three-week Gaza war at the turn of the year, saying it bares Israel's illegal practices. The cabinet said in its weekly meeting that the UN-mandated report on the 22-day war "reflects the illegality of the practices carried out by Israel in the Palestinian territories," according to the official SPA news agency.
The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council's adoption of the report on Friday showed that a majority of countries "reject and demand the halt of such practices against the Palestinian people and Islamic holy sites," the cabinet said. SPA did not mention whether Riyadh supports the report being discussed by the UN Security Council or being taken up by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. The report recommended the ICC should examine its conclusions if both the Palestinians and Israelis fail to conduct credible investigations of the war within six months. The report, compiled under the lead of South African judge and war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the 22-day war that killed 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.