The UN secretary general has said he cannot determine if the Israelis and Palestinians have carried out credible and independent investigations into alleged war crimes during the war in Gaza more than a year ago.

Ban Ki-moon told the UN General Assembly in a report released on Thursday that the Israelis were not still looking into the allegations made in a September report by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge and former international war crimes prosecutor.

"A determination can be made on the implementation of the [UN] resolution by Israel and that determination is that Israel has not implemented the UN resolution," Ban said in his report to the 192-member assembly that contains responses provided by Israel.

Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said anyone looking to the UN chief to make a stand on the investigations demanded would have been disappointed.