Eleven Palestinian human rights groups on Monday called on authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to investigate  alleged war crimes committed by Palestinians during last year's Gaza war.

The groups sent identical letters to the Western-backed president Mahmud  Abbas and Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya asking them to follow the  recommendations of a UN inquiry into alleged war crimes during the conflict. 

The so-called Goldstone report accused both Israel and Palestinian  militants of committing war crimes during the 22-day war that ended exactly one  year ago, and demanded both sides conduct independent probes. 

"Although a large part of the report deals with violations committed by  Israel, it also touches on violations committed by armed Palestinian groups and  the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza," the letter says. 

"As international and Palestinian non-governmental associations, we call on  Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to immediately  launch credible internal investigations." 

The letters were signed by several leading Palestinian human rights groups,  including the West Bank-based Al-Haq and the Gaza-based Al-Dameer and Al-Mezan  organisations. 

In November the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution  endorsing the report and calling on both sides to probe alleged war crimes. 

The report accused Israel of using disproportionate force and deliberately  attacking civilians during its offensive, which was aimed at halting  Palestinian rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled territory. 

The report also accused Palestinian groups of committing war crimes by  deliberately targeting civilians with the rockets. 

But Israel vehemently rejected the Goldstone report as biased, and neither  it nor the Palestinians have acted on its recommendations. 

The UN resolution endorsing the report carried out by the respected former  war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone called on both sides to complete their  inquiries by early February.

(AFP)