Jerusalem - The Palestinian Authority has decided to defer until March next year its draft resolution in the UN Human Rights Council to condemn Israel's conduct of the Gaza Strip offensive, officials in Geneva and Jerusalem said. The Geneva-based body had been expected to vote on the resolution later Friday.
A Palestinian diplomat stated that Palestinians wanted to gather more support at the 47-member body for the resolution and allow the membership to study the report further.
The resolution would have endorsed the Goldstone Commission report on the Gaza conflict, which accuses both sides of war crimes and called for the UN General Assembly or Security Council to follow up on the investigations into alleged violations.
If the sides did not investigate themselves, Goldstone said the International Criminal Court should take up the case.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Thursday that passage of the resolution would have been a "critical blow" to the peace process.
Officials said the Palestinians came under pressure from the US government, which has said that the Goldstone proposals should wait until after Mideast peace talks have resumed.
"The United States won Israel a reprieve on the Goldstone report, so now it must ensure that Israel genuinely investigates allegations of abuse," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
If this does not happen by March, the next session of the council, HRW said the US should endorse the Goldstone report.
Pro-Israel non-governmental groups welcomed the decision to defer the resolution, calling the report "biased."
