US, Israel Will Try to Block Probe Into Use of White Phosphorus by Israel - Ex-UN Official

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States and Israel will try to block a possible future investigation into the alleged use of white phosphorus by Isarel, Former director of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights Craig Mokhiber told Sputnik.

On Tuesday, the letter by Mokhiber to Volker Turk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, was made public, which explained that the UN high-ranking diplomat resigned over the Organization's stance on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Mokhiber stopped working at the Organization on November 1.

Mokhiber noted that successive UN investigations in the past, in prior attacks by Israel, have confirmed the use of white phosphorus.

"In the current round, I'm not sure what information is available. I can tell you that this is being raised by the Independent Human Rights mechanisms of the UN Human Rights Council," he said.

"I think we can fully expect that there will be a full investigation, independent international investigation, you can also expect as in all previous investigations, that Israel will not cooperate with that investigation, and will try to block it. You can also expect that powerful western states, especially the United States, will try to block it from taking place as they have done in our previous investigations," the former director added.

"So there will be an investigation, they will confirm what exactly has happened. But there won't be any accountability, because Israel and those who committed individuals who commit these kinds of war crimes will be protected, including by the United States and the Security Council," the former director emphasized.

A number of NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty international, claimed that Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

The use of incendiary weapons, such as napalm or white phosphorus, is banned under Protocol III to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects of 1980, according to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated on October 11 that the UN was not aware of any reports of white phosphorus munitions being used by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat slammed Amnesty International on October 26 as anti-Semitic and biased against Israel after the organization accused both sides in the conflict of war crimes.

'Two-State Solution' No Longer Possibility in Conflict

Everyone in the corridors of the United Nations knows that there is no longer a possibility to solve the Middle East conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, the former director Mokhiber stated.

"You know, in the UN, you have this kind of a smokescreen. Everyone in the corridors knows that there is no longer a possibility of a sustainable two state solution," the Mokhiber said. "Yet, if they speak in public or to journalists, they just keep repeating the mantra of the two state solution. Everyone in the UN knows that the Quartet had effectively not existed and yet they refer to the Quartet," he stressed.

The former UN official went on to say that everyone in the United Nations knows that this is not just a conflict between two parties fighting over land or religion.

"But it is a conflict between occupier and occupied between oppressor and oppressed. And between one of the most powerful states and militaries in the world on the one hand, and dispossessed and disempowered, civilian indigenous population on the other hand," he said.

Moreover, Mokhiber went on to say, all of the international human rights organizations have recognized the project of Israel is a system of apartheid, and yet, this is not a word that one is hearing uttered by the political side of the Organization.

"This has been affirmed by every international human rights organization, Israeli human rights organizations, Palestinian human rights organizations, and by a number of UN Human Rights mechanisms. And yet in the approach of the United Nations, the political side of the United Nations, all of this is ignored," he emphasized.

Online Threats From Pro-Israeli Networks, Troll Farms

Mokhiber also said that he has been subjected to all sorts of attacks online, including receiving death threats from pro-Israel networks and online troll factories.

The former UN official noted that while the crackdown on human rights defenders does not come from the United Nations, there is still this pressure to be silent.

"I was pressured to be silent, which is one of the reasons I decided to leave," he said. "But the real crackdown is coming from a network of organizations that have been set up to defend Israeli impunity. I can just tell you, when my letter was leaked, I received all kinds of online attacks, including death threats, from these pro Israel networks and online troll farms and so on. It's part and parcel of the business," Mokhiber complained.

The former UN official gave an example for criticizing Israeli human rights violations, one is now called an anti Semite.

"Even if you've worked your whole life fighting bigotry, including anti semitism, they'll say you're an anti Semite," he said. "This is a part of the tactic that they use. It doesn't work so much anymore, but it does affect people, you know, and we have to repeatedly make the point that criticism of Israeli human rights violations is not anti-semitism, just like criticism of Saudi violations is not Islamophobic... But they still use that as a smear tactic against human rights defenders," Mokhiber stated.

Moreover, the former director stressed that the problem is they're now using legal mechanisms.

"I'm stationed in the United States right now. And in the US, you have the federal government, you have state governments, you have local governments, and you have universities, who are using the legal mechanisms to punish people who try to speak out against the human rights violations Israel is committing," he noted. "You can be kicked out of school, you can be punished inside universities, you could lose a job or a contract. And this is being actively pursued," Mokhiber stated.

"Again, I'm in the West. I don't know what's happening in other regions at the moment, but it's being actively pursued not just in the US, but in large parts of Europe as well," he added. "This is in violation of the international human rights guarantees of free speech, free expression, free association, freedom of information, and is quite horrendous. I have not seen this kind of crackdown in the West, certainly since the Cold War," the former UN official stressed.

'Great Mistake' For US to Increase Engagement in Israel-Hamas War

It would be a big mistake for the United States to increase its engagement in the war between Hamas and Israel, Mokhiber emphasized.

Mokhiber has warned of a high risk for the Middle East war to become a wider conflict.

"I think it is increasing with every passing day. I think the US is engagement has not been helpful in this regard," the former UN officialsaid. "Obviously, I think it would be a terrible mistake for the US to increase its involvement, it should be decreasing its involvement here and using its influence, to get a full ceasefire and humanitarian aid into Gaza and the reconstruction of Gaza and end to the occupation and the realization of the human rights of the Palestinian people," Mokhiber stated.

The former UN official believes that Israel cannot end the conflict, cannot end armed resistance.

"By doing that. In fact, it will produce more armed resistance," he explained. "Hamas grew out of Gaza because of the occupation. You can kill every Hamas leader and fighter. But all of these children who are growing up under these horrific conditions now they will grow up wanting to resist as well," Mokhiber stated.

"So if the objective is peace, if the objective is an end to the conflict, if the objective is an end to armed resistance, the answer is an end to the occupation and the establishment of a political regime across all of Historic Palestine and Israel, based on international human rights, democracy and equal rights for Christians, Muslims and Jews without exception," he concluded.

US Backing Israel Can Have No Role in Mediation

The United States is not a mediator in the Middle East crisis but a party to the conflict on the side of Israel and should play no role in mediation efforts, the former director emphasized.

Mokhiber noted that if all of the UN specialists and experts recognize that the quartet is not a credible or effective institution, and believes that it must be recognized by the members of the Quartet itself.

"Part of the problem is that for years you had the United States and Europe put out as mediators in the conflict. And that has always been a gross misrepresentation, we have to recognize, for example, that the United States is a party to the conflict on the side of Israel," Mokhiber said.

The former UN official pointed out that the United States is providing billions of dollars in military aid. In additon, intelligence services of the US and European countries maintain close cooperation, according to the former official.

"That provides diplomatic cover, including in the Security Council to prevent any action to hold Israel accountable," he said. "It's just an illusion to suggest that they can play any other role," the former UN official stated.

Mokhiber stressed that european countries follows the US policy.

"As we've seen in the recent onslaught in Gaza, instead of seeing European leaders standing up, including the leaders of the United Kingdom, and of the European Union, standing up to defend human rights, we've seen them stand up to defend the aggression, the gross violations and the breaches of humanitarian law that Israel has been committing in the occupied territories," he said. "These institutions are not the solution, they are the problem, we need to return to a law based institution that says that all people of Israel and Palestine have equal rights," Mokhiber added.

However, he added, they need to be protected by international human rights and humanitarian law.

"We need to work for accountability for all perpetrators, redress for all victims, and end to apartheid and an end to the occupation," he said.

On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel.

On October 27, Israel announced it is expanding ground operations in Gaza to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue the hostages.