UN expert urges states to embargo Israel over ‘cruellest genocide of modern history’

The UN rapporteur says the US, by enabling Israel’s campaign through weapons, technology, and political cover, shares responsibility for the atrocities unfolding in Gaza

[Note: I would like to make a change here. The Cradle reports on the US, but there are many organizations and many countries clearly profiting from genocide, involved and Franscesca ultimately says their States bear the reponsibility. It is a complex document and I have not fully integrated the information, but so far, I did not find reporting on Russia, or on Iran]

The Cradle

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, on 3 July, urged states to sever all financial and trade ties with Israel and impose a full arms embargo.

She described the situation in Gaza as “apocalyptic,” accusing Tel Aviv of carrying out “one of the cruellest genocides in modern history.”

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Albanese said, “What I expose is not a list, it is a system, and that is to be addressed.” She went on to present her latest report, which names over 60 companies accused of facilitating Israeli settlements and military activity in Gaza.

The recommendations were met with applause inside the chamber. Israel’s delegate was not present, in line with Tel Aviv’s stated policy of disengagement from the council, which it accuses of antisemitism.

Albanese urged UN member states to halt all arms transfers, suspend trade agreements with Israel, and prosecute companies complicit in war crimes. “We must reverse the tide.” She warned that the continued complicity of states and corporations sustains the conditions for genocide in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva dismissed the report as “legally groundless, defamatory and a flagrant abuse of her office” earlier this week, before the session.

During the session itself, no Israeli response was issued. The mission also did not reply to Reuters’s request for comment on the rapporteur’s remarks.

Israel continues to reject all accusations of genocide in Gaza, citing its response to the 7 October 2023 attack.

Albanese is one of dozens of independent UN-mandated experts who monitor and report on rights abuses around the world.

Soldiers’ testimonies and a comprehensive report by AP confirm long-standing accusations that the GHF has militarized food aid under US-Israeli oversight.

Eyewitness accounts and video evidence show contractors using live ammunition, tear gas, and stun grenades against crowds of civilians collecting aid.

Internal documents detail dozens of injuries during each distribution, while Palestinian families say they are shot at from towers and dirt mounds as they flee.

Despite denials, AP’s findings show GHF guards operating with impunity in what one contractor described as “a war zone, not a relief mission.”