[JURIST] A UN Human Rights Council [official website] envoy on Thursday called for an investigation by the International Criminal Court [official website] into whether Israel committed war crimes during the 34-day Middle East conflict [JURIST news archive]. In a report, UN special rapporteur on food rights Jean Ziegler [official profile] wrote that Israel's bombing campaign against Lebanon [JURIST news archive] blocked access to food and water by bombing farmland and blocking Lebanon's ports. Israel has criticized Ziegler for going beyond the authority given to him by the council.

Another group of four UN human rights envoys reported Tuesday that Israel and Hezbollah [CFR backgrounder] both violated international humanitarian law [JURIST report] during the Middle East conflict. Their report to the Human Rights Council claims that Israel [JURIST news archive] failed to adequately protect civilians and failed to use means which would inflict the least amount of damage. The report blamed Hezbollah for using almost 4,000 Katyusha rockets which were fired at civilian areas in northern Israel, resulting in the deaths of approximately 40 civilians. AP has more.