Hezbollah denied any connection to the weapons.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commenting on United Nations deliberations yesterday over Israel’s conduct during last winter’s Gaza war, said Iranian efforts to kill civilians by smuggling massive amounts of weapons to Hezbollah are the real war crime.
“It is a war crime that the UN Security Council should have a special meeting over,’’ he told reporters in Tel Aviv. “A major component of this shipment were rockets whose only goal was to hit civilians and kill as many civilians as possible - women, children, old people.’’
The UN General Assembly yesterday called on Israel and the Palestinians to investigate alleged war crimes during the last Gaza conflict.
The 192-member body adopted the resolution yesterday by a vote of 114-18, with others absent or abstaining. The resolution calls on the Security Council to act if either side fails to launch credible investigations within three months.
It endorses a report by an expert panel chaired by South African Judge Richard Goldstone that concluded both Israel and Palestinian militants committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, unlike Security Council resolutions.
On Wednesday, Israel displayed the contents of the ship it seized off Cyprus - crates filled with missiles, mortars, antitank weapons, and munitions - the largest such haul in the country’s history. Israel’s claim that the weapons came from Iran were bolstered by Iranian markings on the containers.
“Hezbollah categorically denies it has any connection with the weapons which the Zionist enemy claims it seized,’’ the group said in a statement.
