A United Nations human rights mission has begun two days of hearings in the Gaza Strip to determine if war crimes were committed by Israel or Hamas during Operation Cast Lead, the 22-day Israeli invasion of the Hamas-ruled region which began at the end of December.

The mission is headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone, who served as chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Members of the delegations will interview dozens of witnesses, victims and experts today and tomorrow. A second round of hearings will be held in the Swiss city of Geneva at the beginning of July.

The Israeli government has refused to cooperate with the UN mission, saying the UN has a history of bias against Israel. Israel says it invaded the Gaza Strip because of constant rocket attacks on Israeli towns such as Sderot, which has been hit by thousands of rockets and mortars. Thirteen Israelis died in the conflict. Estimates of the number of Palestinians killed vary between 1,116 and 1,417.

Photo of Israeli troops at staging area outside the Gaza Strip

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