A UN investigation into possible war crimes in Israel and Gaza will go ahead with or without Israel's cooperation, the chief investigator said Wednesday. Israel regards the probe as “intrinsically flawed” because it was ordered by the UN Human Rights Council, which has an anti-Israel track record. But Richard Goldstone, a veteran prosecutor of war crimes in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, said he wants his team to bring a balanced approach to the January conflict and was upset that Israel has turned a deaf ear to his appeals for cooperation. He said the team wanted to start in Israel, visit the southern part of the country and town of Sderot, which was hit repeatedly by Palestinian rockets, and then enter Gaza “through the front door.” Goldstone says the team will travel to Gaza through Egypt if the Israel bars them. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would press Israel to let Goldstone in. Ready for peace talks with Syria Israel is ready to open peace talks with Syria immediately and without preconditions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after talks with US President Barack Obama. He said he agreed on the need to widen the peace process but stopped short of embracing the US goal of Israel accepting there should be a Palestinian state.
