The United Nations Particular Rapporteur within the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, mentioned on Tuesday that she believes that the Israeli army aggression in Gaza since October 7 quantities to genocide, and referred to as on international locations to instantly impose sanctions and an arms embargo.
Israel, which didn’t attend the session, rejected the Particular Rapporteur’s findings.
“It’s my solemn responsibility to report on the worst of what humanity is able to and to current my findings,” Albanese added earlier than the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, whereas presenting her report entitled ‘Anatomy of a Genocide’.
She mentioned, “There are affordable grounds to consider that the edge indicating the fee of the crime of genocide” towards the Palestinians as a gaggle in Gaza “has been met,” noting that “Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, together with greater than 13,000 youngsters. Over 12,000 are presumed lifeless and 71,000 injured, many with life-changing mutilations.”
She added, “I implore member states to abide by their obligations, which begin with imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel and so be certain that the long run doesn’t proceed to repeat itself.“
Genocide, as outlined by the 1948 Conference on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was issued following the mass killing of Jews within the Nazi Holocaust, is a “crime dedicated with the intent to destroy a nationwide, ethnic, racial or non secular group, in complete or partly.”
The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva mentioned that Israel’s warfare is towards the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Motion (Hamas) and never towards Palestinian civilians, and that it broke out because of the motion’s militants attacking southern Israel.
The Hamas assault on Israel final October 7 led to the killing of 1,200 folks and the kidnapping of 253 hostages, in accordance with Israeli statistics.
“As a substitute of looking for the reality, this Particular Rapporteur is attempting to reconcile weak arguments along with her apparent distortion of the information,” she added.
Gulf international locations, akin to Qatar, and different African international locations, akin to Algeria and Mauritania, expressed their help for the findings reached by Albanese and their concern concerning the humanitarian state of affairs.
The seat of america, Israel’s ally, was empty. Washington beforehand accused the Council of everlasting bias towards Israel.
Albanese is considered one of dozens of unbiased human rights consultants mandated by the United Nations to report and advise on particular subjects and crises, and her opinions don’t replicate the official opinion of the world physique.