RAMALLAH, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Israel's refusal to cooperate with a UN probe panel on Jewish settlements on its occupied land will not affect the committee's work, a Palestinian diplomat said Saturday.
Ibrahim Khrishi, the Palestinian envoy to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), told Xinhua that the mission will start its work by the end of July.
The United States and Israel pressured the Geneva-based council to delay the appointing of the panel and thus deferred the process, Khrishi said. However, the top UN rights body named three women on Friday to lead the panel, which will look into the effects of the settlements on the lives of the Palestinians in the West Bank.
Israel cut its relations with the UNHRC when it called for the forming of such an investigative committee in March. The panel should submit its report at the council's 22nd meeting in March 2013.
The Palestinians will use the panel's conclusions "in all international institutions to support the Palestinian quest against the settlement activities, and will submit it to the UN Security Council," Khrishi said.
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