UN Gaza inquiry head to quit over Israeli claim of bias

The head of a United Nations inquiry into last summer's war in Gaza announced on Monday that he would resign over Israeli allegations of bias due to consultancy work he did for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

In a letter to the commission, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Canadian academic William Schabas said that he would step down immediately to prevent the issue from overshadowing the report's preparation and findings, which are due to be published in March.

Schabas was appointed last August by the head of the U.N. Human Rights Council to lead a three-member group looking into alleged war crimes during Israel's 50-day military offensive against Gaza — which devastated much of the territory’s infrastructure and killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians. The U.N. says another 11,000 were wounded and some 100,000 people remain homeless.

In the exchange of gunfire, more than 60 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were also killed.

His departure highlights the sensitivity of the U.N. investigation, just weeks after prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague said they had started a preliminary inquiry into alleged atrocities committed in the Palestinian territories.

In the letter, Schabas said a legal opinion he wrote for the PLO in 2012, for which he was paid $1,300, was not different from advice he had given to many other governments and organizations.

"My views on Israel and Palestine as well as on many other issues were well known and very public," Schabas said. "This work in defense of human rights appears to have made me a huge target for malicious attacks."

Israel had long criticized Schabas' appointment, citing his record as a strong critic of the country and its current political leadership.

Schabas said his work for the PLO had prompted the Human Rights Council's executive on Monday to seek legal advice about his position from U.N. headquarters.

"I believe that it is difficult for the work to continue while a procedure is underway to consider whether the chair of the commission should be removed," Schabas said.

The commission had largely finished gathering evidence and had begun writing the report, he added.

The commission is looking into the conduct of both the Israeli military and Hamas, the armed group turned political party that controls Gaza.

Wire services