A Palestinian girl passes by a house destroyed during Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza earlier this year, in Jabaliya. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A conflict that has spanned the decades is now answering to the International Criminal Court. A U.N. investigation, led by former South African judge Richard Goldstone, concluded that “both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. Israel refused to cooperate in the investigation and claims that the process was biased, despite the reports findings that Israeli and Palestinian forces comitted war crimes.

The conflict in the Gaza Strip in question is the period from December 27 to January 18, 2009. The 575-page report details civilian accounts of the military operations against Palestinian rocket squads in the Gaza Strip. The accounts accuse militants of using human sheilds, targeting civilian populations, and failing to distinguish between civilian and military targets. Goldstone firmly believes that while Israel does not accept the International Criminal Court’s authority, or the findings of the report, “it is in the interest of both Israeli’s and Palestinians to establish the truth of what happened in the conflict.”

For a more detailed account of the investigation click here.