Israel has not decided whether to grant visas to members of a UN fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip led by South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said on Saturday night.
Tutu was to begin leading a six-member team this weekend in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun investigating the botched shelling that killed 19 people in Beit Hanun on November 8. "A decision on visas is pending," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "[The decision] is not about [Tutu] the person, but the process is extremely problematic, because it singles out Israel for special treatment and uses a human rights agenda to bash Israel."
Government officials said last week they would not cooperate with the mission, but would not bar entry into the country of Tutu, a longtime critic of Israel. They said Tutu, who won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his anti-apartheid efforts, was by no means "persona non-grata" in Israel.
The 47-nation United Nations Human Rights Council asked Tutu to report back by mid-December, assessing the situation of the Beit Hanun victims, addressing the needs of survivors and making recommendations on ways to protect Palestinian civilians against further Israeli attacks. |