Abstention on Gaza vote slated

The Government has been condemned for its "utterly shameful" decision to abstain in a UN Human Rights Council vote on whether to launch a commission of inquiry into Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

In spite of the abstention by Ireland and a number of other European countries, there was a sizeable vote in favour of the Palestinian- drafted resolution. The US voted against.

The EU said the proposed inquiry would not, in its view, provide a “sufficiently rapid response to the urgent situation on the ground”.