Muslim countries called Thursday for the UN's top human rights body to condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza, and accused the Jewish state of committing war crimes through the collective punishment of Palestinians. Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), presented a draft resolution. The text, which was also sponsored by the Arab League, demands an immediate halt to Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip as well as the firing of crude rockets by Palestinian militants into southern Israel. It condemns persistent Israeli military attacks on Gaza and accuses Israel of “inflicting collective punishment against the civilian population, which constitutes a war crime.” “Israel has resorted to use of disproportionate force, deliberate destruction of infrastructure and killing of civilians,” Pakistan's ambassador Masood Khan told the UN Human Rights Council. He said that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in less than one year, including 125 in the last week when Israel conducted a sweep against Palestinian rocket crews. Israeli forces withdrew from northern Gaza on Monday but sporadic fighting has persisted. Meanwhile, Egypt started building a three-meter (10 foot)-high concrete wall along its border with the Gaza Strip in a bid to prevent a repetition of a January breach which saw Palestinians flood into Egypt, a security official said. “Egypt has started work on a three-meter high wall along the border with Gaza,” the official said, adding that a three-kilometer (two mile) section of the wall had already been built. “It is a preventative measure. There is no threat of another border breach at the moment,” the official said. __
