Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Palestinian Authority asked the United Nations General Assembly today to seek prosecution of Israel for war crimes during its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as a necessary path to Middle East peace.

“Unchecked impunity and the absence of justice will only continue to obstruct peace efforts and prolong this tragic, painful conflict and the suffering of civilians,” said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s envoy to the UN. “History has taught us that a perpetual lack of accountability and justice only leads to further conflict and violence.”

Mansour spoke at the start of a General Assembly meeting requested by Arab nations to act on the recommendations of a UN- backed panel that said Israel and Hamas both committed war crimes during the December-January conflict in Gaza. The recommendations include the possible prosecution of war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Egyptian Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz introduced an Arab draft resolution that would set a three-month deadline for Israel and Palestinian authorities to investigate allegations of war crimes. It calls for the Security Council to take action in the event of non-compliance, which could include referring the charges to the court.

The Arab move threatens to impede resumption of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, which rejects the report of the panel led by former UN war crimes prosecutor and South African judge Richard Goldstone.

‘Do Not Promote Peace’

“The Goldstone report and this debate do not promote peace,” Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev told the General Assembly. “They damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our region. If Israel is asked to make concessions for peace, we must be assured of the right to defend ourselves.”

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations broke down in December when Israel began the military incursion in Gaza to stop the firing of rockets on Israeli communities. The Obama administration’s high-profile efforts have failed to bring the two sides together again.

The U.S. opposes involving the Security Council with the Goldstone report.

Israel says its operations in Gaza were a defensive response to eight years of rocket attacks by Hamas, which controls the enclave. The Israeli army presented the results of its own probe on April 22 and rejected the allegations that it committed war crimes. The UN panel said those investigations “lack the required credibility.”

“Rather than confronting terrorism, the General Assembly chose again to detach itself from reality,” Shalev said. “The report before you was conceived in hate and executed in sin.”

Resolution Draws Support

Diplomats speaking on behalf of the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement and the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference backed the Arab draft resolution.

Sweden’s Ambassador Anders Liden, speaking for the European Union, said the Goldstone report was “serious” and that all allegations of illegality should be “thoroughly investigated and those responsible must be held accountable.”

Mansour said the Palestinian Authority would investigate the allegations of war crimes committed by Hamas, which the U.S. and Israel consider a terrorist group.

“I stand before you today to convey the suffering and pleas of the Palestinian people, who for more than four decades under Israel’s brutal military occupation have been deprived of their rights to self-determination and sovereignty over their land and have repeatedly been subjected to displacement, killing and injury,” Mansour said.

The Arabs were not entirely united in their support for the draft resolution. Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari told reporters before the General Assembly meeting that his government was concerned that the measure wrongly “equated” actions by Israel and Hamas during the war.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 13:00 EST