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Call for War Crimes Inquiry

The recent relentless attack by Israel on Gaza and the Gazans still resonates in many quarters. With ongoing investigations of the conflict and what each side did, the calls for Israel's leaders and military men to be pursued for committing war crimes grows ever louder.

Now, Reuters reports that a group of significant and leading judges and investigators have called for an inquiry to determine whether war crimes were committed:

"A group of leading judges and investigators called on Monday for a "prompt, independent and impartial" investigation into allegations of war crimes committed during Israel's conflict in Gaza earlier this year.

In a letter to the secretary general of the United Nations, the 16 signatories, including Richard Goldstone, a former chief prosecutor for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said both sides in the conflict had allegations to answer for and needed to be held to account.

"Allegations of serious violations of the laws of war have emerged throughout the latest Gaza conflict, relating to conduct and actions by both the Israeli military and by the Palestinian armed groups," the letter says.

"Without setting the record straight in a credible and impartial manner, it will be difficult for those communities that have borne the heavy cost of violence to move beyond the terrible aftermath of conflict.

"A prompt, independent and impartial investigation would provide a public record of gross violations of international humanitarian law committed and provide recommendations on how those responsible for crimes should be held to account."

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