LONDON: The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories said Israel should bear responsibility for rebuilding Gaza, alongside the United States and other major arms-supplying countries, calling for a comprehensive assessment of international complicity in what she described as genocide.
Speaking at an event in London on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese said accountability must extend beyond Israel to include states that have supported its military campaign.
“States must cut ties with Israel, must stop aiding and assisting a state that maintains an unlawful occupation,” Albanese said Friday.
Addressing reconstruction and responsibility, she argued that Israel should pay for rebuilding Gaza together with the United States, Germany and Italy, which she identified as the main weapons providers.
Albanese also called for a robust investigation into Britain’s alleged role, citing services provided from UK bases in Cyprus.
“If Israel do not want to be accused of colonial practices, it should not behave as a colonial power, as a colonial entity, taking land, displacing the people,” she said.
Describing the war in Gaza as “the combination of 60 years of impunity,” Albanese said the situation would not change “unless things change in London or in Rome, or in Berlin, or in Paris.”
‘No robust response against sanctions’
Commenting on US sanctions imposed on her, Albanese said the measures had effectively criminalised her work, as well as that of International Criminal Court judges and Palestinian human rights groups.
“There has not been robust enough for response, or a robust enough response to this to have the sanctions lifted,” she said.
She added that the sanctions have prevented her from travelling to the United States to present reports to the UN General Assembly and have restricted her ability to open a bank account.
UN experts warned in August that US sanctions against Albanese threatened the international human rights system, a month after Washington announced measures against her over what it described as her “efforts to prompt” ICC action against US and Israeli officials.
In August, the United States also sanctioned four ICC officials for authorising arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Civil Defense, around 250,000 families are living in displacement camps across the territory, many exposed to cold weather and flooding in fragile tents.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10, living conditions have not improved, with Israel continuing to restrict the entry of aid trucks, in violation of the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.
Israeli attacks since October 2023 have killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others, according to local authorities, despite the truce.
