UN: Gaza war crimes probe to go ahead without Israeli approval

Former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone says he will go ahead with his investigation into possible war crimes committed by both sides during Israel's three-week-long offensive in Gaza.

Goldstone said on Wednesday he hopes to visit Gaza and southern Israel in early June, and also aims to hold public hearings in the region on alleged war crimes committed there.

Speaking after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Goldstone said that Israel has not yet officially responded to his four-member team's request to enter the country for the investigation into Israel's invasion of Gaza in late December.

"One decision we have taken is we will have a number of days of public hearings. If we can in the region, so much the better, and if necessary we will have them in Geneva," Goldstone told reporters.

Goldstone said he and members of the UN-appointed team are disappointed that they have not received a positive response from the Israeli government. He said he wanted to start the investigation in Israel to see the Israeli side first.

But the team was prepared to enter the coastal strip via the Rafah crossing in Egypt - a "second choice," he said.

Israeli officials have said Israel does not intend to cooperate with the UN delegation that will examine claims of war crimes carried out by Israel and Hamas during the course of Operation Cast Lead.

"There is no change in our position," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Wednesday in Jerusalem. "We think that the mandate is intrinsically flawed and defective, and therefore this commission will never be able to do a proper job, whatever good intentions its head may have."

The delegation appointed by the UN Human Rights Council last month.