JERUSALEM, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Hoping to defuse a U.N. report fiercely critical of its war in Gaza, Israel plans to set up a team to double-check internal inquiries that cleared its forces of serious wrongdoing, a political source said on Sunday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak "hope this move will put the issue to rest", the source, a government aide speaking on condition of anonymity, said. The source was referring to international demands that Israel set up an independent domestic investigation into war-crimes allegations. Israel bombarded and invaded the Gaza Strip last December in what it said was a response to rocket fire by Palestinian Hamas. It refused to cooperate with the United Nations fact-finding mission under South African jurist Richard Goldstone, citing bias concerns. The Goldstone report lambasted both sides in the war, which killed up to 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but was harsher toward Israel. It gave both sides six months to mount credible investigations or face possible prosecution at The Hague. Goldstone has said he would have confidence in an independent Israeli investigation. Such panels have, in the past, prompted high-level political resignations and reshuffles. But the political source said Netanyahu and Barak did not want to supercede a series of internal military investigations that supported the army's tactics. The handful of courts-martial since the war have been on minor charges such as looting. "The idea is to set up a team to double-check the findings, to ensure there was no whitewash or lack of professionalism," the source said, adding that Netanyahu's and Barak's initiative awaited cabinet approval next week. Asked why the government resisted the idea of an independent investigation, the source said: "Netanyahu is afraid of having his hands tied if further action is required in Gaza." A Netanyahu spokesman declined comment. Israel has lobbied against any bid to bring the Goldstone report to the U.N. Security Council. Netanyahu said such a move would be an assault on Israel's right to self-defence and would hurt U.S.-led efforts to revive peacemaking with the Palestinians. Hamas, an Islamist group that refuses permanent coexistence with the Jewish state, has said it would form a committee to investigate the allegations in the Goldstone report. (Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Soumoud Saadat, daughter of Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), looks on during a protest calling for her father's release from Israeli jails, at ...
