Israel should also immediately cease all settlement activities, Ambassador Haroon added.

The Pakistan envoy commended as “magnificent” the UN report, which concluded that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity, during its devastating attacks on Gaza in late December and January.

Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed and thousands more injured in the course of the Israeli offensive.  He said the report, written by respected South African Judge Richard Goldstone, “deserves to be read in complete understanding and without reservation because it speaks in a very strong and truthful voice”.

Dealing with the Middle East situation, Ambassador Haroon said the international community was confronted with a situation that continued to fester.

The consequences of the collective failure to respond would be disastrous for the region and beyond.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank was worsening, he said. 

Closure of Gaza’s border to people and commerce was strangling the local economy and public services and was a threat to human security.

“Amidst this human tragedy, we regret to note that (the) Israeli Government carries out actions that compound the plight of Palestinian people and make a political settlement all the more difficult”.

The ambassador said the Council, especially the body’s five permanent  members, should show the political will to achieve real progress or peace in the Middle East and urge for relaunching negotiations for atwo-State solution.

He said the framework for peace had already been laid out in Council resolutions, the Annapolis understanding, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Road Map peace plan.

The Quartet—comprising the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia --  must support the peace process through a transparent and objective engagement, the Pakistan envoy said.

There was an urgency to address the humanitarian plight in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and rebuild the Palestinian institutions.

Intra-Palestinian reconciliation was also a prerequisite for peace, he said.

About 50 delegations took part in the day-long debate during which Arab and Israeli envoys clashed over the findings of the Goldstone report.

Arab delegations showed up in force to support the Palestinian Authority, intending to make political gains from the report that Israel and the United States want the U.N. to bury.

The UN Human Rights Council will debate it in Geneva on Thursday.

US Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff reminded the 15-nation council that the report’s findings by a three-member panel under Goldstone’s leadership is “not a matter for the Security Council’s action.”

“But we do take seriously the allegations in the report,” Wolff said. He urged Israel to “seriously investigate” the allegations while deploring Hamas’ incapability to undertake self-examination.

“We continue to have serious concern about the report, its unbalanced focus on Israel, the overly broad scope of its recommendations and its sweeping conclusions of law,” Wolff said. Palestinian  Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki charged that Israel was responsible  for the deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza Strip, citing the report and its findings. Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev countered Al-Malki, rejecting the use of the council meeting by governments to discuss the report as  counterproductive to the Middle East peace process. Israel has rejected the report as one-sided and biased.