Hamas Urges UN to Distinguish between Crimes and Resistance

Hamas on Monday urged the United Nations to distinguish between ‘Israeli' crimes and Palestinian resistance in its investigation of human rights violations in the Gaza war.

"We ask any investigation commission to be just towards the Palestinian people and ... not to put on a same level the Zionist crimes" and the acts of "resistance" by Palestinians, said Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman of the Palestinian Resistance movement.

"What the Palestinian people did and our resistance during the war ... amount to self-defense to protect the Palestinian people," he said.

Former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone was named on Friday to lead a broadened human rights probe into violence during ‘Israel's' 22-day Gaza offensive in December and January.

'Israeli' foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor on Friday slammed the UN probe, saying it was "not an attempt to find the truth but to tarnish ‘Israel's' reputation and to join efforts led by some countries to demonize ‘Israel'."

The offensive launched on December 27 killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian officials.