On Monday, a UN rights expert reiterated accusations of “genocide” by Israel in Gaza, criticizing other nations’ “complicity” as “the shame of our time”.
“Many countries continue to turn a blind eye, normalize the suffering, and even benefit from it,” stated Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, during a press briefing in Geneva.
“Arms trade and diplomatic engagement with Israel persist without interruption,” she emphasized.
“This isn’t just morally reprehensible; it’s illegal,” she asserted, calling for “accountability for those who authorize ongoing trade and arms deals with Israel”.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and do not speak for the UN.
The Italian expert has faced significant criticism from Israel and its allies for her consistent allegations of “genocide” in Gaza.
The conflict started nearly two years ago when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in 1,219 deaths, mostly civilians, according to AFP’s tally of official figures.
Israel’s counter-campaign in Gaza has resulted in nearly 65,000 deaths, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry that the UN considers credible.
However, Albanese suggested on Monday that the actual number might be ten times higher.
In a rare action, Washington imposed sanctions on Albanese in July, labeling her work as “biased and malicious”.
Albanese reiterated that US sanctions against her, along with those against International Criminal Court judges, were “unacceptable”.
She pointed out that for decades, the United States has supported the Israeli government “militarily, politically, diplomatically, strategically, discursively”.
Under President Donald Trump’s current administration, she warned that this support had “crossed the Rubicon”.
Albanese cautioned that history would judge the US and other countries harshly for their continued support of Israel amid increasing genocide accusations.
“This isn’t the first known genocide,” she remarked, referring to the Holocaust, Bosnia, and Rwanda genocides as events “known to contemporaries”.
Albanese noted that “this genocide is distinct, openly incited, cynically denied, and continuously supported, armed, and weaponized, while dissenters are silenced, beaten, criminalized, and smeared”.
“This is the shame of our time.”
The rapporteur mentioned she has “asked prime ministers, presidents, foreign ministers, so-called world leaders” the same query: “How do you sleep? When will you act?”
