‘Shocked’: UN rapporteur slams international community for ignoring Israeli genocide in Gaza
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, says she is “shocked at the defiance towards international law, not just by Israel, but by most countries in the international community”.
Speaking at a news conference in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen, she expressed frustration at the limited effect of international court rulings condemning Israel’s war in Gaza and occupation of the West Bank.
“We are at a very interesting and dangerous crossroads [in Israel’s war on Gaza],” said Albanese. “After 15 months, the ceasefire … offers a ray of hope. However, the situation on the ground remains catastrophic.”
Albanese said her fear that Israel would use the war in Gaza to seize more territory and displace Palestinians had been justified.
“Israel has committed acts of genocide under the fog of war,” she said.
Trump’s ‘immoral’ Gaza plan includes ‘international crime’: UN’s Albanese
“It’s unlawful, immoral and completely irresponsible,” says Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, when asked about US President Trump’s suggestion to remove Palestinians from Gaza and have the US take ownership.
“What he proposes is … nonsense,” Albanese said at a news conference in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen. “It will make the regional crisis even worse.
“It’s incitement to commit forced displacement, which is an international crime,” she added. “The international community is made up of 193 states and this is the time to give the US what it has been looking for: isolation.”
More from UN’s Albanese: ‘Peace through economic development will not work’ in Gaza
The UN rapporteur also addressed whether economic development plans in Gaza could be a catalyst for long-term peace.
For too long, she said, “the international community has treated the issue of Palestine like something that can be managed in perpetuity through means of development, economic incentives and encouraging growth … or managing it as a humanitarian process”.
“Frankly … it doesn’t work,” she said.
“Of course, economic development must happen,” Albanese added, “but not at the expense of fundamental rights and freedoms, which Israel, the United States and others seem to expect the Palestinians will accept.
“Peace through economic development is expectation of surrender and it will not work,” she said. “The only way to stop the violence is to give peace a chance through freedom.”
Trump’s plan for Gaza takeover a violation of Geneva Conventions: Analyst
Trump’s proposal to displace Gaza’s population and for a US “takeover” of the Palestinian territory is a “radical plan that violates international law, including the Geneva Conventions,” said Evangeline Cheng, a research associate at the Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore.
“It is also an idea that would infuriate Arab populations and allies alike while further damaging American standing in the Middle East at a time when this is already at a low end given the previous administration’s unflinching support for Israel in Gaza,” Cheng told Al Jazeera.
“Trump’s assertion that all Gazans must leave, rather than supporting a post-Hamas governance model, suggests a maximalist approach that aligns closely with Israel’s right-wing position,” Cheng said.
“Even if full evacuation never happens, Trump’s hardline stance could help Israel by making the idea of displacing Gazans seem more normal.”
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