UN experts assail Western nations for supporting Israel in Gaza war
Special rapporteurs accuse West of ‘double standards,’ with one questioning whether Israel should still be in global body it has ‘zero’ respect for
UN human rights experts criticized mostly Western countries on Monday for continuing to support Israel despite what they described as a genocide in Gaza that might turn Israel into a “pariah” nation.
The rapporteurs, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but who do not speak on behalf of the UN, slammed Western countries’ “double standards” in the devastating war, and insisted that Israel needed to face consequences for its actions. They are among dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations to report and advise on specific themes and crises. Their views do not reflect those of the global body as a whole.
“Shockingly, in the face of the abyss reached in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories)… most member states remained inactive at best, or actively aiding and assisting Israel’s criminal conduct,” Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the territories, told a press conference in Geneva, repeating allegations of genocide.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer, said she was referring to Western states as well as some Gulf nations and others.
Israel denies the allegations and says it takes steps to reduce the risk of harm to civilians in accordance with international law and that at least a third of the Palestinian fatalities in Gaza are Hamas terrorists.
It stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, and UN facilities.
The UN experts also decried what they said was Israel’s escalating violence and rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank, its disregard for international court rulings, and verbal attacks on the UN itself.
“I think it’s 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,” Albanese said, citing verbal and military attacks on UN facilities in Gaza.
Albanese, who has repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, and who has faced harsh criticism along with calls for her dismissal from Israel, asked if the country deserved “to continue to go unpunished for its relentless attacks” on the UN. She also questioned Israel’s right to a seat at the United Nations, acquired in 1949.
“Should there be a consideration of its membership as part of this organization which Israel seems to have zero respect for?” she asked.
In response to the comments, Israel’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva accused Albanese of having a political agenda and of being antisemitic. “She is not fit to hold any position at the United Nations, and this has been made clear by many,” it said.
“Francesca Albanese is well-known for abusing her inherently discriminatory UN mandate to spread her hate-filled political agenda, antisemitism, and disinformation. Her attitude, including defending and justifying Hamas’s actions, is a constant stain on the United Nations,” the Israeli mission said.
In the past, Albanese’s remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict have drawn scrutiny, including from a US ambassador in Geneva who said she has a history of using “antisemitic tropes.” In July, Albanese endorsed a social media post comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, drawing rebuke from Israel and the US.
Albanese was joined Monday by three other UN independent experts who accused Western countries of hypocrisy and double standards, for example, by being more vocal over perceived rights violations by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine than of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
George Katrougalos, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of democratic and equitable international order, also stressed that Israel be held to the same standards as all countries, and condemned its repeated attacks on critical UN officials or agencies.
“We cannot anymore stand this kind of double standards and hypocrisy,” he told reporters.
“I hope that it is not going to continue… I trust that the progressive and democratic citizens of Israel would not let their country become a pariah like South Africa had become during the times of apartheid.”
Though its Western allies have repeatedly backed Israel’s right to defend itself, some have voiced harsh criticism over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, among them France, the US, and Britain. Earlier this year, the US temporarily paused one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, citing concern over the impact they could have in densely populated areas in Gaza. Then, earlier this month, Britain suspended dozens of arms export licenses with Israel, citing a risk the equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a massive cross-border attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, amid widespread atrocities and sexual violence. The thousands of terrorists who burst into the country also abducted 251 people as hostages to Gaza.
Israel responded to the attack with a military offensive to destroy Hamas in Gaza and free the hostages, of whom 97 remain in captivity, though not all are alive.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
