Francesca Albanese said that she had been subjected to attacks and received threats since she began preparing a report on Israeli crimes in Gaza (European)

The United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, expressed her astonishment at the words used by the US State Department spokesman against her and considered them irresponsible, stressing that Washington is an integral part of what is happening in Gaza.

Albanese said - in statements to US National Radio in response to the statements of the US State Department spokesman who accused her of having a history of anti-Semitic statements - that expecting Israel to act in accordance with international law is not anti-Semitic or shameful, considering that her criticism of Israel was due to its policy.

The UN rapporteur indicated that the failure in multilateralism and in providing international protection systems is due to the opposing position of the United States.

Albanese stressed that the United States is an integral part of what is happening in the Gaza Strip, and questioned the credibility of what the US State Department says about Israel adhering to international humanitarian law, despite the violations it is committing, such as starvation.

US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said that the United States had “opposed for a long period of time the mandate of this special rapporteur,” and accused Albanese of having a “history of anti-Semitic comments.”

Threats

A few days ago, Albanese said that she had been subjected to attacks and received numerous threats since she began her mission to prepare a report on Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Albanese confirmed - during a press conference regarding her report submitted to the Human Rights Council on the devastating Israeli war on the Gaza Strip - that after 5 months of analyzing the massacres carried out by Israel in Gaza, the reports confirm the presence of elements indicating that Israel is committing the crime of genocide in Gaza. Pointing to 3 actions specifically: killing Palestinians, displacing them, and imposing living conditions that lead to partial or complete physical destruction against them.

She confirmed that Israel is using banned weapons against the Palestinians in Gaza and is starving them, "and this is a set of war crimes that have never occurred before in the occupied Palestinian territories."

The UN rapporteur called on the world to confront Israel's brutality and force it to abide by international law, and stressed that Israel has manipulated international humanitarian law to justify the violations it is committing in Gaza. She stressed the need to make efforts to stop the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that has left tens of thousands of civilians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, according to Palestinian and UN data, which led to its appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies