William Schabas, the head of a United Nations investigation into the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, has resigned due to bias allegations for his previous work with the Palestine Liberation Organization.
The investigation seeks to determine if potential war crimes were committed in the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The panel's inquiries, sanctioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council, are set to be released in March.
Israel has refused to cooperate with the investigation and accused Schabas of "clear and documented bias."
Schabas said a legal opinion he wrote for the PLO in 2012 was normal advice he has given to many other governments and organizations. He was paid $1,300.
"My views on Israel and Palestine as well as on many other issues were well known and very public," he said in a statement. "This work in defense of human rights appears to have made me a huge target for malicious attacks."
TVNL Comment: If you criticize Israel in any way, you are automatically accused of bias. Israel can do no wrong.