Israel 'disappoints' UN war crimes judge

The head of a UN inquiry into human rights abuses committed during the three-week Israeli war on Gaza has been disappointed over Tel Aviv's lack of cooperation.  "I'm disappointed, and the members of the mission are disappointed, that we've had no positive response from the Israeli government," Richard Goldstone told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday.  The South African Jewish jurist, who heads a four-member fact finding mission to Gaza, said despite his direct appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the group's request to enter Israel has to date been met with a wall of silence.  "But we've really received no official response. There've been media reports of noncooperation but I regard those as unofficial. It would be good to get an official response and I would hope a positive response," he explained.  Goldstone went on to express his determination to go ahead with the inquiry even if Tel Aviv fails to cooperate on the issue.  The team is obliged to submit a report by Aug. 4 on the conduct of both sides during Israel's Operation Cast lead.  This is not the first time echelons in Tel Aviv deny a United Nations fact finding mission entry into the Gaza Strip, impoverished by a 22-month Israeli imposed siege on its inhabitants and constant military operations.  Human rights investigator Richard Falk was denied entry into the coastal territory at the onset of the military aggression in December.  The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories believes Tel Aviv is shirking all investigations in fear of the abundant amount of evidence that shows its violation of international laws of warfare in Gaza.  "The real reason is that the facts overwhelmingly support allegations that Israel is understandably concerned that any objective inquiry would indeed confirm the allegations and create a situation in which the international community would be obliged to seek some kind of procedure for accountability," said Falk in an exclusive interview with Press TV in late April.  Tel Aviv claimed in late December that it had unleashed Operation Cast Lead upon the territory of 1.5 million Palestinians in "retaliation for Palestine rocket attacks on Israel".  The three-week Israeli offensive on the tiny coastal strip killed nearly 1,350 Palestinians and wounded around 5,450 others -- most of them civilians.  The onslaught cost the Palestinian economy at least $1.6 billion, destroying some 4,000 residential buildings and damaging 16,000 other houses.  The Israeli use of controversial flesh-eating weapons against civilians and UN buildings has also prompted universal condemnation and calls for war crime charges to be brought against Tel Aviv.