The U.N. Human Rights Council has endorsed a report accusing Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during the 22-day Israeli offensive in Gaza that ended in January. The vote sends the Goldstone Commission report to the Security Council.

Of the council's 47 members, 25 — mostly Arab and African states — voted for the resolution. Six — the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine — voted against it. The remaining 16 either abstained or did not vote.

Palestinians and human rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans were killed; Israel says 1,166. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed.

The hostilities were investigated by international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone. He recommended that within six months soldiers on both sides be prosecuted for war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. Failing that, the U.N. Security Council should pursue prosecutions.

The rights council's resolution, however, only cites "recent Israeli violations of human rights in occupied east Jerusalem" without directly mentioning Hamas.

Goldstone criticized that bias.

"This draft resolution saddens me as it includes only allegations against Israel. There is not a single phrase condemning Hamas as we have done in the report. I hope that the council can modify the text," Goldstone told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps, Agence France-Presse reports.

The BBC summarizes his report:

The 575-page report by the South African judge concluded that Israel had "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" by using disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians, using Palestinians as human shields and destroying civilian infrastructure during its offensive in Gaza.

It also found there was also evidence that Palestinian militant groups including Hamas, which controls Gaza, had committed war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity, in their repeated rocket and mortars attacks on southern Israel.

The report demanded that unless the parties to the Gaza war investigated the allegations of war crimes within six months, the cases should be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

The complete report can be found here.

(A Palestinian scavenges materials from a Gaza house destroyed by Israeli forces last winter. Photo by Hatem Moussa, AP.)