UN special rapporteur says sanctions must be imposed on Israel
Francesca Albanese says there is nothing that prevents a UN member state from abiding by international law, and states individually have an obligation not to aid or assist a state “which is committing atrocities day in and day out”.
“They have to stop those who are still transferring weapons [to Israel]… and also buying or purchasing military and security services from Israel must stop,” she told Al Jazeera.
Albanese said any trade with Israel must be “interrupted”, adding that diplomatic and political sanctions must also be applied.
“Whoever is not taking these steps is either responsible or completely indifferent to the plight of millions of Palestinians,” she noted.
‘Complete hijacking of rules, mechanisms by a group of states’
The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory has questioned the so-called international rules-based order amid the ongoing war on Gaza.
“I am very allergic to the international rules-based order. There is no order any more,” Albanese said.
“There are rules, there are mechanisms and there is just chaos. There is a complete hijacking of the rules and the mechanisms by a group of states who expect… to rule the world according to their own rules. And this is chaos, and this is not respectful of multilateralism.”
No members of Israeli army held accountable for killing of journalists
The UN is marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
Its focus has been Israel’s war on Gaza. The UN says the conflict has seen the “highest number of killings of journalists in any war in decades”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says:
- Since the war began, 126 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israeli forces. That’s the highest number in a year since tracking started in 1992.
- Israel has arrested at least 66 Palestinian journalists since October last year.
- Almost 4,000 international journalists are accredited by Israel to cover the conflict but only one has been granted entry into Gaza.
- No members of the Israeli army have been held accountable for the killing or targeting of journalists.
