A/HRC/5/20 page 3 Introduction 1. At its third special session, on 15 November 2006, the Council adopted resolution S-3/1 in which it, among other things, called for a High-Level Fact-Finding Mission (hereinafter High-Level Mission) to be established and for the mission to travel to the town of Beit Hanoun in the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza, following Israeli military operations carried out there around 8 November 2006. The Mission was mandated, inter alia, to assess the situation of victims; address the needs of survivors; and make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against any further Israeli assaults. 2. The President of the Council appointed Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa to lead the High-Level Fact-Finding Mission, and Prof. Christine Chinkin of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a member of the High-Level Mission. In accordance with the resolution, the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provided all administrative, technical and logistical assistance required to enable the fact-finding mission to fulfil its mandate promptly and efficiently. I. FIRST ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL TO BEIT HANOUN 3. The members of the Mission gathered in Geneva in early December 2006 and requested the cooperation of the Government of Israel in pursuing its mandate, in particular the granting of the necessary visas for the Mission (including Secretariat staff) to enter Israel. Awaiting a response, the High-Level Mission spent a week in consultations with various actors and receiving briefings from United Nations and other organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza and in Beit Hanoun in particular. A list of meetings and briefings held during this week appears as annex I to the report. The schedule of meetings planned for the High-Level Mission in Israel and Gaza appears as annex II. 4. On Monday 4 December, Archbishop Tutu met with the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva. During this meeting the Archbishop expressed the High-Level Mission’s desire to meet with both Palestinian and Israeli officials and non-governmental organizations with a view to hearing the views of all. The Archbishop also signalled that the Mission would need to leave Geneva on Sunday 10 December 2006 at the latest in order for him to return to Cape Town by 16 December to attend to previous commitments. A later departure for Israel would not allow for the Mission to be completed appropriately. Following the meeting with the Permanent Representative, visas to enter Israel were sought, indicating that the arrival in Israel would be 10 December. No formal response to the Mission’s request for visas was received (nor to date has been received) from the Israeli authorities, which for the Mission indicated a refusal to issue visas. Reluctantly, the Mission was abandoned. Archbishop Tutu wrote a letter to the Council dated 11 December 2006 (A/HRC/4/113) in which he outlined these developments and asked the President to bring them to the attention of members of the Council. 5. Once it became clear, in December 2006, that the High-Level Mission would not be permitted to travel to Beit Hanoun via Israel, the High-Level Mission considered the most appropriate means of giving effect to the mandate given to it by the Council. In doing so, the Mission took into account a number of factors, including the following: