Special report: Israel launches Gaza assault

    CAIRO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit welcomed the UN Human Rights Council's approval of are solution to denounce the Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the Egyptian news agency MENA reported on Thursday.

    The condemnation of the UN body confirmed that Israel violated international laws and did not respect human rights, Abul Gheitwas quoted as saying.

    The resolution emphasized that the Israeli targeting of Palestinian civilians constitutes a gross violation of human rights law and international humanitarian law.

    The resolution, sponsored by Arab and Islamic states, was adopted Wednesday by a vote of 32 in favor, eight against and six abstentions, with one member country absent from the meeting.

    According to the resolution, the Geneva-based council decided to dispatch urgently a high-level fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, where recent Israeli military attacks killed some 19 people, including children and women, in the deadliest single attack on Palestinian civilians by the Jewish state in the past several years.