According to IRNA, Francesca Albanese while speaking a press conference of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on Monday called the presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal and "violation of the right to self-determination."
Palestinians - like it or not - have the right to resist oppression, she said but added that this resistance must be "within the limits of international law" and that civilians cannot be targeted, killed or taken hostage.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer, also took aim at UN members, especially Western states as well as some Persian Gulf nations and others that remained silent spectators to Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
“Shockingly, in the face of the abyss reached in [occupied Palestinian territory] … most member states remained inactive at best, or actively aiding and assisting Israel’s criminal conduct,” Albanese told the news conference in Geneva, repeating allegations of genocide.
Other UN human rights experts have also warned that Israel risks becoming an international “pariah” over its “genocide” in Gaza, suggesting that the regime’s UN membership could be called into question.
They decried what they said was Israel’s escalating violence and rights violations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, its disregard for international court rulings and its verbal attacks on the UN itself.
The rapporteurs, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the UN, also slammed Western countries’ “double standards” in the devastating war and said Israel needed to face consequences for its actions.
“I think it is unavoidable for Israel to become a pariah in the face of its continuous, relentless, vilifying assault of the United Nations, on top of millions of Palestinians,” said Albanese.
Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva criticized Albanese after her comments and said that “she is not fit to hold any UN position”.
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