A report issued yesterday by a UN fact-finding mission led by South African judge Richard Goldstone condemns both Israeli and Palestinian war crimes during Israel’s recent invasion of the Gaza Strip. The report however reserves its harshest criticism for Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian civilian population. The total number of Palestinian casualties is said to be between 1,387 and 1,417. According to the report, “The data provided by non-governmental sources with regard to the percentage of civilians among those killed are generally consistent and raise very serious concerns with regard to the way Israel conducted the military operations in Gaza.” Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses the significance of the Goldstone report.