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OPT: Upcoming hearings enable victims to speak directly to UN Gaza rights probe

Members of the independent fact-finding mission set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council will hold public hearings in Gaza next week as part of its investigations into violations committed during the recent conflict in the Strip, allowing those affected to tell their stories to the world.

The hearings will "enable victims from all sides in the conflict and experts on its consequences and impacts to speak directly to the international community of their experiences," according to a statement issued in Geneva.

The four-member team, led by Justice Richard Goldstone, will interview victims, witnesses and experts in Gaza City on 28 and 29 June, at the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Hearings will also be held on 6 and 7 July in Geneva, as part of the investigations into rights violations committed during the December 2008-January 2009 conflict, which killed over 1,400 people and injured 5,000 others.

Both Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN human rights chief Navi Pillay have called on Israel to cooperate with the investigation team, which travelled to Gaza earlier this month in the first of several planned visits to the area.