OHCHR Press Conference: Escalating violence and human rights violations in Gaza and across the OPT

Good afternoon, everyone. And thank you for joining us at this press briefing.

The subject of the briefing today will be the escalating violence and

human rights violations in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territory.

I'll begin with a quick introduction of our speakers today.

We will have opening remarks from four speakers,

two of them in the room with us

and two special rapporteurs who will be speaking online

here with us. We have Mr Pedro

Araujo Agudo,

the special rapporteur on the right to water and sanitation,

and Mr George Katos,

who is the independent expert on the promotion

of a democratic and equitable international order.

Online.

We have Ms Francesca Albanese,

who is the special rapporteur on the situation of

human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

And Doctor Tang

Moo

Keng, who is the special rapporteur on the right to help

Each of the speakers will have brief opening remarks.

We will begin with Miss Albanese,

Special Rapporteur. You have the flow.

Uh uh,

thank you very much, especially to HC HR for convening this, uh, briefing,

which is very urgent.

And the other special rapporteurs and mandate

holders who are joining joining me today.

Good day, everyone.

I wish to address the alarming escalation

of violence in the occupied Palestinian territory,

the one that has ravaged Gaza over the past 11 months and

the troubling indications that the violence is spreading to the West Bank,

outlining the current situation in five minutes in a way

that render justice and does not dehumanise this even further.

The Palestinians is impossible and still I will do my best in

in highlighting three main points. First, the current situation on the ground

in Gaza for almost

a year. Israel's genocidal assault has devastated entire families.

To raise the neighbourhoods destroyed the essential infrastructure.

The scale of this destruction has led to allegations of domic side

be side Scholastic side,

Meide cultural

genocide

and mo. More recently,

eco

site. This violence has gone unpunished and continues unabated.

Nearly 2 million people over 90% of the Gaza population are forcibly displaced,

many, many relocated multiple times.

Almost everyone is reliant on humanitarian aid,

which is limited and insufficient.

The death toll stands at, uh 4

4000. All over 40,000 Palestinians killed in 95 over 95,000 injured.

These are stark numbers,

but still the trauma inflicted both physical and psychological.

We linger for generations.

Uh,

the fury unleashed against Gaza has not spared the Israeli hostages that

were taken on October 7th by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups,

using them as political pawns.

Israel has endangered their lives, sometimes even killed them and excessive

the pain of their families and friends who are longing for their return.

In Israel today, Gaza remains under siege and relentless bombardment.

Evacuation orders continue to be issued to a population that has nowhere to go,

and they are just waiting for their death.

The closure of the Rafah border, uh,

has further exacerbated their ability to escape or to survive.

The suffering is unimaginable, and the way in the world continue to remain silent.

Primarily, I'm referring to Western countries in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The unbearable blind violence that has been unleashed in Gaza

is finally not sparing, um, those living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem,

and the attacks against the Palestinians have been, um,

intensifying after October 7th, land confiscation,

destruction of infrastructure and the population wrought

by the Israeli occupation and settler militias.

Since October 2023 has been marked by violent calls for

displacement of Palestinians into Jordan or into the Arab countries,

acts of force displacement, extrajudicial killings and appalling

acts of revenge, physical and psychological torture. Sukar,

679 Palestinians, including 159 Children, have been killed in this area.

The Israeli military, supported by armed settlers,

has intensified its strikes on the Palestinian towns and villages,

especially in the north, where aerial and ground attacks have hit Jenin

and

Nablus.

Turk Tulk

with two bus With

escalating to levels not seen in two decades, particularly in the last two weeks,

airstrikes and artillery have killed dozens

Palestinians while injuring many more.

Bulldozers and explosives are destroying as we speak petal infrastructure,

including roads and utilities,

disrupting essential services like water and electricity.

Israeli forces continue to besiege hospitals, halting ambulances and the

many medical staff.

Israeli leaders have openly called the West Bank towns and refugee camps mini

Gaza and despite these apparent crimes and

continues and continued incitement from top officials,

those responsible for these crimes remain unpunished.

The second element I want to bring to your

attention is despite the horror on the ground.

Hope comes from the people who are protesting against

against the complicity that is allowing Israel to commit the crime and

hope comes from the international justice system which are producing a seismic

shift in recent months.

First,

the International Criminal Court has been requested

to issue arrest warrants concerning various atrocities,

underscoring the need for accountability.

Second,

two significant cases are pending before the International

Court of Justice regarding allegations of genocide.

South Africa versus Israel with a set of preliminary measures that,

um that have gone, uh not followed up. And the second is Nicaragua versus Germany.

Uh, third International Criminal Court. Sorry.

Uh, third, almost 6060 days ago, the IC G a has issued an historical decision,

an advisory opinion that declares all Israel's

presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful

to annexation, violation of Palestinian refugee, uh,

Palestinian self determination and therefore to be dismantled.

Um

uh,

the advisory opinion provides clear guidance on the responsibility

of states and international organisations to address these violations.

Third and last point shockingly in the face of the abyss reached in the

OPT and the hope provided by the

international Justice system member states most member states

remained inactive at best or actively

aiding and assisting Israel's criminal conduct.

The international community must active decisively and must active now.

And as I'm speaking to the media today, let me say something. Too often.

Media has disseminated Israeli disinformation which

has served to justify the crimes

being convicted.

This coverage has contributed to dehumanised

Palestinians and to his public perception,

undermining accountability.

As a Western citizen myself, I ask Western journalists among you,

if you really resent and repent our past.

If you really resent and repent what Western

countries have done to millions during colonialism,

including during Nazi fascism in Europe, stop dehumanising the Palestinians.

Please do your job.

The facts are to enter all areas in the OPT

and do not perpetuate narratives that allowed for continued injustice.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss

Albani.

And we will now hear from the independent expert on

the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.

Mr.

Kalas,

you have the flu,

OK?

It is clear now to everybody

that there is an evolving tragedy

in Palestine.

However,

this tragedy

is not an issue just for the Palestinians.

It is immediately related

to the future of multilateralism.

and the United Nations system

of rules.

There is now

nowadays an obvious crisis of both of them

dubbed standards silence

before major international crimes like those committed in Gaza.

Official threats

against international judges.

Recently, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

has said that he had heard from a senior figure

that the court was not built for the West and its allies,

but just for Africa

and thugs like Putin.

So I think that it is important

for the future

of affair

just democratic, equitable international order

not to adopt double standards regarding

international crimes,

but have a uniform position

based on principles values the United Nations Charter.

It is important the immediate recognition of the state

of Palestine.

It is of utter importance

all states to exert pressure

for an immediate stop a ceasefire

of the war

in Gaza.

The warrants

recently demanded by the prosecutor

of the

ICC

are a promise of accountability and end of impunity

for the occupied Palestinian territory.

This promise should be kept.

Any further delay

would undermine the deterrent effect that accountability could create.

It is really regrettable that the European states

have acted against these warrants,

the International Court of justice

who will will determine

the state responsibility

of Israel,

has already declared the occupation

illegal.

Its work is complementary to the work of the ICC for full justice in Palestine.

Both courts must do their work without foreign interference and threats

to demonstrate the promise of global justice

and individual accountability for all victims

of this war.

Many things

thank you

and we continue with the special rapporteur

on water, Mr

Good, do you have to?

No, it's OK,

thank you very much. Well,

Israel, through government and army spokesman

publicly proclaimed

from the beginning of this war that it would

cut off water, food and energy

to the civilian population

explicitly.

Currently, the population lives

on an average of 4.7 litres

of water per person per day.

Any one of us any one of us

uses no less than 100 litres per day

for our daily needs,

and the WHO sets the minimum requirement in emergency situations at

15 litres.

In addition, accessible water is often contaminated by faecal matter,

leading to serious health problems, especially for Children,

often resulting in death.

The only

one natural source of fresh water

is the coastal aquifer

The strip is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, of whom

it is important, 1.7 million are refugees

forced by Israel to live there in refugee camps.

This huge population

has been forced to pump three times more

water than the aquifer receives through natural replenishment,

resulting during the blockade for one decade and

a half in intense marine intrusion and salinization.

In addition,

Israel has been blocking 70% of the materials needed to build and operate

sewage treatment plants

as dual

use materials, preventing proper sewage treatment,

which has led to progressive faecal contamination of ground water.

Until the outbreak of the war, drinking water was supplied by desalination plants

and a limited amount of water sold to the Palestinians by Israel.

These provide drinking water to around 40% of the population.

At the outbreak of the war, Israel

radically cut off this water supply and cut off the power supply

collapsing desalination plants.

The lack of clean water

has led to 1.7 million cases of infection diseases, mainly diarrhoea,

dysentery and hepatitis A,

particularly affecting Children

as well as cases of polio, smallpox and other infectious diseases that can trigger

massive and deadly epidemics.

All this, coupled with the lack of medical care, result in deaths,

especially of babies and Children making water scarcity and contamination

a silent bomb which has far less visibility than those that

destroy buildings

but

no less lethal bomb.

Israel's violation of existing international law,

as the International Criminal Court has already ruled, is systematic.

Both the Fourth Geneva Convention

and the Rome statute, as well as customary international and humanitarian law,

are being violated

on a daily basis.

But not compliance with international law related

to water does not only concern Gaza.

The militarization of water in the occupied Palestinian territory has been

at the heart of a policy of water and territorial apartheid

for the past 50 years,

including the destruction of basic Palestinian water infrastructure.

Palestinians have no access to the Jordan River

and cannot build wells or water infrastructure in their own territories.

They have only 70 litres per person a day,

and as a mean

and

many rural communities have only 20 litres,

while Israeli population has four times more on average

and illegal settlers receive and use 18 times

more water for their crops and swimming pools.

Finally, we are witnessing a genocide against the Palestinian people.

We cannot remain

impassive.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much to the special rapporteur.

And now we move to the special rapporteur

on the right to Health Doctor MFN.

You have

flow.

I welcome this opportunity to speak to you today in my

capacity as the special put on the right to health.

We have watched this horror of a genocide in Gaza unfold over the past 11 months.

It is important to note that even before October the seventh,

the situation was already incompatible with the

realisation of the right to health.

And this current episode represents another amongst many

episodes of a display of a recalcitrant repent attitude

of an occupying regime as well as its powerful global allies.

And this current episode

of an ongoing enactments over a decades long genocidal plans is systemic.

And it sustained imperialist violence

that experienced by Palestinians every single day

since the occupation.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, as of 14 September,

approximately 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, 95,000 injured,

and in the past 24 hours alone,

24 Palestinians were killed and 57 more injured than we can account for

with more than 50 days having passed since the

International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion

declaring Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories

encompassing the West Bank, including east Jerusalem

and the Gaza Strip as illegal under international law.

Emphasising that Israel's actions amount to annexation

yet member states, with all the implications of the I CJ opinion

and their obligations to comply,

have chosen not to do so

and days into this current war and a genocide.

I did warn that the Gaza's medical infrastructure

was on the path of being irreparably damaged

and that health care providers were working in a dire situation

and that the right to health itself was being targeted

and the long term trauma that the people in Gaza will carry with them.

Because of this enduring intergenerational physical and mental

health and the impact of racism and structural discrimination

cannot truly be quantified.

We are yet as a world, even as clinicians and doctors such as myself,

yet to develop a matrix to truly measure the

true impact of what this genocide has meant,

the compounding effect of what this situation is

remembering very well that even before October,

the seventh Life was not conducive to dignity in the Gaza Strip.

And so the attacks on hospitals on healthcare workers

are on a scale we have never seen before,

and the right to health has been

decimated at every single level.

Today, only 17 out of the 36 hospitals are partially functional

and maintain some minimal service.

And only 58 out of 100 and 32 primary healthcare facilities are functional

as they struggle to save lives amid critical shortages of healthcare workers,

trickling supplies of fuel, medical items.

And we know

with the polio

vaccination

uh, programme right now,

a lot of Children have received their first dose of vaccine.

However,

they and their families continue to face bombardment

when they try to reach those facilities.

They are still at risk of bombardment when they depart those facilities.

So the continued concern for the right to health is still continuing,

as we see with the kinds of illnesses such as skin disease,

air and waterborne illnesses,

acute mental health distress that continues that we cannot have a

solid approach that looks at only one solution and does not

take into account the fact that for Gaza to recover for

a health system to do what it needs to do,

there has to be an immediate ceasefire and

that is not something that should be negotiated.

An immediate ceasefire is absolutely necessary.

My mandate continues to receive information

regarding arrests and detention of healthcare workers specifically

and the system must get a pattern

that even when medical personnel are on duty,

they are also being forced to evacuate hospitals.

They are being harassed to leave their patients behind.

Some are arrested, some are dying and killed under those circumstances of torture,

repeatedly being beaten in prison with their bodies showing signs of torture.

And I have communicated in an urgent appeal to Israel some of these concerns.

So the destruction of the health system right now is created by this genocide

is completely incompatible, but it's been enabled by

Israel and its allies to be able to continue.

There must be an end to the occupation.

There must be an immediate ceasefire.

We must allow critical medical supplies and secure the

safety of healthcare workers to reach every single facility,

expedite medical evacuations for everyone who needs them,

and my last point is that the intimidation and harassment

of United Nations staff and experts who are

carrying out their mandates must be stopped.

And this issue must be taken seriously as we are all

operating within mandated work and there is no place for harassment,

intimidation or even Reprisals for people who are a work

with the United Nations,

including targeted intimidation and harassment of experts.

A genocide is incompatible with realisation of the right to health,

and peace follows liberation.

And as you can see,

there is no way that we can extinguish the human desire for freedom.

And this is ultimately about the freedom of the people to self determine.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Special rapporteur,

and thank you to all the experts for sharing their statesman statements.

Today we'll open for questions.

Now take some questions in the room first and

then move to those of you joining us online.

If I could please ask you to state your name and organisation when you

are

Uh, yes, thank you. My name is Isabel Saco.

I work for

a Spanish news agency.

Uh, my I have two questions. One of is for Mr Arroyo.

Um, I would like to know if he considers, uh,

that water is being used as a weapon of war in Gaza.

Concretely.

And if you remember any other case or situation where water has been used in

this way in a war

and for all the participants, if you could, um,

briefly say,

if you agree or not from the own pers from the perspective of your own mandate,

Uh, if there is genocide in Gaza or not, thank you.

Yes. Unfortunately,

there are other cases.

Water is more and more used as a weapon against the civilian population,

not against the other army.

I have cases also at present in

the border between Syria and Turkey

in the ratio of in the

au, uh,

population

and other cases we are seeing also in some way also this kind of,

uh,

strategy

in Ukraine also,

but nothing

comparable, similar to the case of not just Gaza

but Palestinian in general occupied Palestinian

because it's something that is

organised from 50 years ago

and now during the war in Gaza, it was explicit.

It was not just to say no, no explicitly recognised, we will cut water,

uh, food

and, uh, medicaments.

So This is, uh, I, I used to say, just in order to know,

um

when international law qualifies, the systematic blockade of food,

Normally we talk more on food.

It's OK

as a crime against humanity. In the category of extermination,

this is the Rome statute

Water. I remember to you that water is the main food. We need

human beings,

and it is irreplaceable.

But at the same time, if drinkability is not guaranteed,

it becomes the most terrible vector of disease and death that exist in the world.

So in this case,

this is clearly employed as a weapon

in Gaza against the Palestinian civil population.

The second part of Isabel's question was directed at all of the experts.

Would anybody like to respond?

Maybe. I repeat the question. Lisa, if you

consider from their own perspective of your mandate,

if if there is genocide, well, some of you already said, but not all of you

in Gaza. Genocide in Gaza. And why?

If you can just make a statement on this Thank you,

Jo.

Yes. Thank you for the question.

I think that the genocidal intent has been proven from the beginning.

Already

at the hearing

of uh uh, South Africa's, uh, application.

We had a lot of statements

by Israeli officials stating

many of them

that Palestinians are animals that cannot be treated accordingly

to the international rules of uh uh uh,

conducting the war.

And since then,

the situation has getting much, much more worse,

as already,

uh, Mrs Albanese

statements, uh, have been,

uh, analysing.

So I think that there is not any more a question about that.

Would any of the other experts Miss Albanese,

would you like to,

uh, may I?

Yes, please. Go ahead.

Yes, I was, uh, as I was listening to my distinguished colleagues,

I said how nice it is to speak a common language because, I mean we are.

There are many special rapporteurs who

have signed statements denouncing since mid

October.

Uh, the risk of genocide, serious risk of genocide. And that November

and unfolding genocide Ongoing.

Our colleague, special rapporteur on the right to,

as Publishing,

has published an astonishing report on how food sovereignty has been attacked,

leading to starvation to starvation, being a tool of war.

But let me go

back to the question that was asked concern concerning water. I agree.

Of course, with uh uh, my colleague,

the special rapporteur on the right to water concerning

water being used as a tool of war.

But here context is not that of a conflict. And please, please media

and journalists. We need to get the framing right. The ICJ advisory opinion

has called out the Israel

Colonisation Enterprise Settler colonisation enterprise

in the occupied Palestinian territory other than by name.

Therefore, you have to keep in mind that water including in the West Bank and the

Jerusalem was already being used not just as a tool of war,

as a tool to encourage to to to push people into forced displacement.

Because the the per capita water distribution was 80% of

the total water water budgets that have been encircled by the

wall and by settlements for the settlers who shouldn't be Israeli

settlers who shouldn't be there in the first place and 20%

for the for the past Palestinians.

So we are talking of 300 litres per capita uh,

per the Israeli settler per Israeli settlers at 70

litres per person on average to the Palestinians.

So this is the context.

And we shouldn't miss the forest for the trees

Israel is has put forward a settler colonial,

uh, enterprise in what remains of historical Palestine.

And it is It needs to be stopped now.

Uh, yeah, they take that.

Thank you very much.

Uh,

first of all, can, uh, please send us your notice? It's very important for, uh,

for our work.

To

answer.

Yes, please.

Uh

uh, We know,

Uh

uh, uh uh

uh

uh.

Thank you. Yep.

Exist.

La

L

a

le

loi a

TV.

Uh, Jamie and then Nina, And then we'll move to some questions online.

Oh, so sorry. Did you want

Yes, please. Go ahead.

Thank you.

My name is Ravi Kant.

I represent the wire publication in India.

The two questions

you constantly refer to the double standards and hypocrisy of the Western nations.

Would that include the United States? Because you constantly

refer to the European Western states.

And also, I want to know that you know, India's

sort of

in terms of weapons that are being used which are destroying

much of the assets of Palestinians.

Are there Indian bombs which are being used? Is there any

sort of awareness or knowledge of this issue? This is a question open to all.

So thank you.

Ms.

Albani,

will you take that question?

Yes.

Happy to, um, I in fact, I was thinking after, uh, answering the previous question.

Sometimes we have a We are unfair because international community is,

uh is made of so many states, and we need to be very critical.

But in fact, I would like to make sure that when we are critical, we do not overshadow

the incredible, incredible shift that has been,

uh, provoked by states like South Africa and now,

from South Africa to Chile.

There has been a reaction from the global south,

and I want to acknowledge the states and thank the states

to save what remains to be said of of the international,

Um

uh, law, uh, based system.

Um, when When we talk of hypocrisy and double standards,

I don't think that this is a prerogative of the of the Western countries.

Only,

though there are countries in the Arab

regions and other countries in the Global South

who

proven to be, um,

strong allies of Israel at the expense at the

expense of life and dignity of the Palestinians.

But let me say of the future of the Israelis as well,

because a society which is traversed by,

um, genocidal by a genocidal goal by a genocidal force, uh,

has has very little has very little to be happy and to live, uh, safe.

Uh, I mean to very little to be happy about or to feel safe with,

um

and concerning Indian weapons. No, I

I'm personally not aware about it, but this is, I mean,

the the involvement of the military and security sectors

in the crimes that are committed in the context of

Israel's settler colonial occupation of what remains of Palestine is

something I intend to investigate as soon as possible.

In fact, it was my plan to do that last year, and then the

genocide happened. And, um, this was postponed.

But thank you for thank you for your input.

Let's go ahead. The

T.

I fully agree with what

Mr

Albanese

has said.

Just because there was a direct question regarding the United States,

I must say that of course,

the United States have not shown any kind of leadership in order to stop

what's happening. The great tragedy in Gaza.

Instead, they have invited, as you know, for the first time

Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu in a very

celebrating speech

in the capital. And, uh uh,

the little that it has been done regarding

sending

arms to Israel has not changed the situation. But practically it was,

in my eyes, at least, APR relationship.

So I

really expect this issue to be one of the issues

of the debate towards the presidential elections.

Exactly, because I said in my introductory remarks,

I do not consider that an isolated issue, an isolated fact.

As also,

my colleague Petra

Rojo

has said

it is a kind of test regarding the survival

of the international system of, uh,

based order.

And, uh, finally, just as a little remark,

there is a lot of hypocrisy at the level of states, not

just, uh

uh, other states that have already named

but one should not also

ignore

the rising wave or solidarity

that it is present now

throughout

the world, both in our European countries but

in the United States. And of course,

in, uh, in the Global South.

I

think that this, uh, solidarity of the peoples

is one

of the main ways

to have a different future than the dystopian

that now it is evolving before our eyes.

Thank you.

Uh, Jamie from the Associated Press.

Mike,

can you hear me?

OK,

um, my question is for Ms

Albanese.

II, I suppose.

Um although also, Mr um, aroyo

gudu also, um, made an ius

you mentioned that, uh, the United Nations is in jeopardy.

Um, I think if I understood your French comments correctly,

and I just wanna make sure, um, we've seen a number of recent strikes, um, in Gaza,

um, against schools that have become shelters.

And Israel, of course, says that, um,

those strikes are aimed at militants. So

my question is,

is the United Nations able to keep militants out of such shelters or somehow ensure

that these, uh, shelters,

um, are devoid of any militants?

And if not the United Nations, then who who should be doing that? Thanks.

Miss a

is, please can

Yes.

Yes, I would like to answer, um,

in two parts.

So, first, is the UN in jeopardy? Yes, it is.

And as the historian Ras

Sigal,

I keep on quoting,

says the fact that Israel was born as a state of

exception to international law and to know the rules set by the

post World War Two.

order has not helped.

In fact, I do believe that Israel has been a constant violator of international law,

including yo

against no,

that admit no derogation,

like the prohibition of apartheid and racial segregation

and the prohibition of,

uh um

uh,

sorry. And the duty to respect the right of self determination of the Palestinians.

But of course,

the list is long because Israel has

committed war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity

against the Palestinian people far before and

for decades before the seventh of October.

So, yes, I mean, uh, this is, uh this is, um, a bull?

No.

In the in the UN system.

I'm not saying that there are no other

violators of international law and UN resolution,

but surely Israel is a is a has a systemic pattern.

Um, and the punity that has been granted has enabled its, uh, its

H

in standing against every and any, uh, UN,

um

UN norm international law provision, including the i CJ two.

I CJ advisory opinions and three sets of I CJ provisional measures to prevent,

uh, genocide.

Now going to the militants.

It seemed to me that again, we are facing a framing problem.

Now I know what I'm I mean,

I'm aware that what I'm going to say it's going to sound quite problematic

to those who seem to believe that Israel is allowed

to do anything it pleases in the occupied Palestinian territory.

But because Israel's presence is unlawful in the occupied Palestinian territory,

it constitutes an aggression against the right of self determination.

And the Palestinians like it or not, have the right to resist

the oppression, of course, within the realm and within the limits of the law.

Therefore, civilians cannot be targeted, killed or taken hostages, No question,

but you are.

Your question makes me think that there is a

justification for Israel's assault against the the the the Palestinians

in Gaza, including what might legitimately constitute resistance.

And this is problematic because

you I don't think that Israel will ever succeed eradicating Hamas because again,

and this is beyond what under international

humanitarian law constitute a legitimate military purpose.

I've said it over and over together with other international law experts.

But again you cannot eradicate the legitimate expectations of people to have

freedom and dignity because this is what is at stake here and

rest assured that the Palestinians will continue to resist like

any people who has been under colonial colonial rule.

And,

um and the history is replenished of experiences of people breaking

the Yoko colonisation after enduring years of subjugation and repression.

Palestinians are not an exception.

Thank you. Uh, Nina, did you have a question?

Yes. Thank you, Nina. Lars

NFP. Um, I wanted to follow up on the question about the the UN, Uh, being in danger.

I Israel, as you've said,

has had a fairly contentious relationship with the UN since for years and years.

But it's obviously reached, uh, a low point

now. I mean, how do you see that? Um,

impacting the UN S work? Uh, in general, impacting your own work.

And, um also sort of this the fact of ignoring,

uh, rulings. Uh, is that having an impact on other countries?

Do you think, uh, and their relationship to the UN? Uh, thank you.

Uh, which of the experts would like to take that question? Would it be

I don't know

when I'm very, very

close to us.

Escalators doesn't work

tomorrow. I have a side event here

and the heaven or translation,

I have No, we have No. The second travel we are obliged by the rapporteurs

is not possible because the UN has no money for this.

Its obligation.

This is the punishment

that we are we have at present in the United Nations.

It should be a scandal,

an international scandal.

Because the main powers

are delaying

the payment,

they are obliged, they are compromised and committed

is a direct

impact

on the daily

functioning of the United Nations. But the problem is

much bigger, of course,

because he, the,

uh,

is the fact that is, at present,

many people says, well, the United Nations is not useful.

And what happens after this

when

the criminal court

make a decision

when the Council, the Security Council

make decisions

and nothing is respected

and the main powers doesn't do

nothing,

doesn't do anything.

We are blowing up

the United Nations if we don't react

at the same time, I used to say, and this is my position. Just my position

is a great opportunity for reacting

for changing the needs,

the things that we need to change in

this United Nations that continue to be an institution

that we need

more than ever.

So perhaps this situation, this critical situation

is the opportunity

for thinking

what to do in front of this

It is not just us. The secretary general has recently said

that the situation in Gaza

and he associated that also

with Ukraine.

The deadlock of the Security Council

Uh,

I'm caught. You now

may have

may have, perhaps fatally undermined

the latter's authority, the Security Council.

It is not an issue just for the Security Council.

We see a deepening divide between north and south.

Of course, there are conflicting interests.

But in order to be able to work in a factional,

if not harmonious international order,

a first obligation is for everybody

to respect the United Nations

rules.

This is not happening in the case of Israel, and you are very right to say

that it is not just what is happening on the ground. We have some very direct attacks,

insults

of high Israeli officials against the United Nations.

I hope that it is not

going to be continued. I trust

that the progressive and democratic citizens of Israel would not

let their country become a pariah like South Africa has become

during the times of apartheid.

May I?

Yes, Stan, go ahead, please.

I. I

share what my colleagues have said,

Although I think that it's unavoidable for Israel to become a pariah

in the face of its continuous, relentless vilifying assault on the United Nations

on top of,

uh, Palestine, millions of Palestinians.

Um, but this year, the UN Secretary General, the General Assembly,

the Human Rights Council, have been constantly

believe. I know that it has not happened before, but never with this intensity.

And also let me shed light on what has happened to a

NWAANW a which is not only a lifeline for Palestinians in the occupied

Palestinian terror

territory today,

but also

a A

represents as a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly,

an untouchable mechanism that testifies the permanent responsibility

of the United Nations to the Palestinian people,

feel their question of self determination and the right

to return of millions of Palestinian refugees is not

addressed and resolved. And this year

UNRWA has been attacked physically and function.

It has had all around 2 200

staff members killed.

70% of UNRWA infrastructure has been either destroyed or severely damaged.

UNRWA premises have been attacked while shelter, sheltering thousands,

thousands of civilians.

And on top of it,

UNRWA has been smeared and vilified. And I wish I wish and of course, wishing in rock.

But I

I wish the attacks were only by Israel,

but it seems to me and I I fear sometimes to to be to be victim of a conspiracy.

But then you put the numbers together.

And you see what member states west, especially Western states,

are doing the funding UNRWA and even supporting

Israel's actions against UNRWA as an overall attempt to get rid of the agency.

This is so This is so wrong

morally, legally and

politically that it is to be looked at as one symptom of a greater problem.

That is, uh,

does Israel deserve to continue to go unpunished

for its relentless attacks on the United Nations?

Should there be a consideration of its membership?

Um, as part of this organisation, which Israel seems to have 00 respect for

Thank you, Uh, we have a few questions online.

Uh, and since we're running short of time, I just moved to Jeremy, Uh, from RF. I

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Uh, we have two more questions. Uh, Emma,

uh, from writers online.

Thanks for squeezing me in. Um,

M albanesi.

I wanted to follow up on your remarks about most

states remaining inactive at best or assisting Israel's criminal conduct in

this context.

Um, could you comment on, uh,

Britain's decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel?

Would you applaud them for taking, um, some sort of step in that direction,

or is there really little point if if some arms are still going through to, uh, Israel

and maybe for Mr, uh, koalas,

Um, who spoke about US policy.

Uh, I'm wondering if you're hopeful for a shift. Um,

now that Kamala Harris is the

favourite, um, to be the next American president.

Do you see, uh, a chance of a weakening of that aid for Israel. Thank you.

Thank you. Emma. Miss

Albanesi,

will you start off?

Yes. Yes.

I think that it's much easier to name the States in the West which have done something

to get out of the majority. Um,

uh,

It's a majority course of action, of tolerating and E even enabling, um,

Israel's conduct there has been Spain, Ireland, Belgium,

Luxembourg and Slovenia to an extent Portugal, who have been

more critical and to a different extent, they have taken,

um they have taken, uh, steps, um,

to correct this,

uh, but

in

so far, there there seem to me to have been there has been an incredible support for,

uh for what, uh, Israel has been doing. I don't see I. I don't see a change of politics.

And

I had the chance to, uh, the chance to comment earlier,

on bri British on the British government's decision

to suspend Correct me if I'm wrong.

But what I know has happened is that Britain

suspended 10% 30 of the 300

licences it has for armed transfers with, uh, with Israel.

So, uh, numerically, it has definitely not done enough.

It has done 10% of its job to comply with the with the non

derog principles of international law with the provisional measures of the

of the International Court of Justice and again.

What is most shocking is that countries like Britain continue to,

uh, have a very, um, hostile attitude toward, uh, justice

and accountability We shall not forget. Yes, it was the previous government. But,

uh um uh who Who? The previous UK

government who triggered the reconsideration of, uh,

the IC C jurisdiction over Palestine.

This will go down in history as one incredible attempt to hamper justice and to,

and to, uh, obstruct accountability of

of course, you might argue that eventually the UK withdrew. Um,

withdrew.

Uh, this, uh, this action So it didn't make any submission to the to the IC C,

But this was not sufficient because it has, uh, meanwhile, uh,

opened the cauldron to many other states to

challenge the jurisdiction and therefore to delay justice.

So had it been a real re retraction,

Um, the UK should have made a submission to the IC C encourage

to spearhead justice. I mean, this is not what it has done.

Instead,

it continues to crack down on freedom of expression and freedom of association,

uh, in

in solidarity with the Palestinians and with the with

the Israelis who stand in support of the Palestinians.

But I really trust the British people who seem to continue to stand in solidarity,

even when even in the face of this crackdown,

thank you. And to judge

Thank you for the question.

I don't want to directly get involved in elections in any country

and especially the United States.

Although it is not a secret, it is very known that

we had

involvement in these elections by pro Israeli groups, mostly

which tried

to use a huge amount of money.

So not

to have progressive members

of the Congress re elected.

What I expressed

exactly because, uh, as I'm also mentioning in my report is a hope

for overcoming this divide between north and south

by respecting

the, uh, United Nations Charter

and the rules of the United Nations is that the United States should reconsider.

I understand, of course, geopolitics. I'm not naive,

but I think that a wave stance

regarding

Gaza

it is going to be,

let's say,

viewed by many

in the Global South.

And, uh,

this

struggle

for their minds and the hearts

of, uh

the peoples in the South is going to be

one of the

most important bets

in the multi plural world in the years to come.

Thank you very much. We have one more question from Yuri.

Online.

Yes, Thank you for taking my question. And thank you for this press conference.

Uh, this is

maybe a follow up on what was just said by the special reporter George

Kalos. And this is also a question about that.

Uh, according to data from the UN uh, UN OHC HR,

about 12,000 civilians were killed in Ukraine in 2.5 years of conflict,

including now thou 9000 in the territories controlled by Ukraine. At

the same time, at least 41,000 civilians were

killed by the Israeli army in Gaza in less than a year in 11 months.

However, the Western states,

which have imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia for

the violation of international law and UN Charter,

do not impose any sanctions against Israel.

And even more they are delivering weapons.

They are publicly supporting the operation in Gaza.

How to explain this difference?

And can we still speak about the existence of international law and order?

In this case,

I mean E, even if for your mandate,

how can we speak about international order when the rules are so different

from one conflict to another. Thank you.

As I said from the beginning, the rules are not different. The application is,

and we cannot anymore stand

this kind of double standards and hypocrisy.

I think I was clear, but

it's easy for me to repeat it. Thanks for your question.

Thank you. Uh, do we have any other question, Jimmy? Maybe the last one?

Because Yeah,

sure. Thank you. My My question is, for um, madam, um

Abane

again,

Um, I wanted to just there was talk about, um, press reporting,

western press reporting and whatnot.

Um, and I just I I wanted to know,

um, if you could tell us just in the course of your recent work,

Um, what evidence that you have unearthed

in the course of your work

that is not getting out in the press right

now that you think there's something that's not being told

a story that's not being told

Because I assume you have press, um, as part of your sourcing,

but other sources as well.

So could you just tell us what? What what story? What narrative is not being told?

That is,

um I mean, I know you've said a lot of things already, but just specific, uh,

instances that

maybe testify to recent human rights violations or abuses

that, uh, is not getting, uh

uh, enough attention. Thank you.

Go ahead. I'm a time.

Yeah. I will have to ask you to be patient, because, uh, I have plenty to say. Um,

in my next report, which is, uh, which works on the heels of, uh,

anatomy of a genocide.

I wish I could have written

another report by now.

Uh, but, um,

the most significant Because, II, I prefer not to

Not to hamper anything of what I have.

what I'm writing,

I don't think that I can really say that I have unearthed any any evidence

because, um, I don't have, uh, uh, feet on the ground.

Um, and, uh, I need to

rely on a variety of actors to put together and analyse the evidence.

But what I think my UN

added value,

uh,

is as a special rapporteur in the

occupied Palestinian territory is really to offer,

uh, a bird eye picture of the reality on the ground.

Um, including in a historical context in a historical fashion so as to help

people like you, other journalists and all the more, uh,

governments with decision making power not to miss

not to miss the forest for the trees.

the one thing is I would like to tell you is that, uh

uh,

it's pretty clear to me that the genocide that we

were unable to prevent and it is to be punished.

I mean, the people who have been the architect and the executors of the

genocide in Gaza have to be held accountable,

but the genocide was not prevented.

We have failed to honour one of the major

obligations imposed on member states by the Genocide convention,

which is to prevent genocide and then to

genocide.

But now, now

I see the risk of failing,

uh,

once again in the West Bank because the attack

that Israel has unlocked has unleashed is not just

against Palestinians in Gaza, it against the Palestinians as a whole.

So there is a need to see to read the writing on

the wall and to protect the Palestinians from what it might be,

uh, in some weeks or months from now, another

form of genocide unfolding. So this is why I'm so,

uh,

I'm so, uh, convincingly sounding the alarm not to Not to,

um, turn a blind eye on what is happening

to the entire Palestinian population under Israeli military rule.

Thank you.

Uh, thank you to all the rapporteurs for being here and thank you to all of you.

I'm sorry this ran long. Uh, but we'll close the press conference.

If anybody needs the statements, we can, Uh,

whatever statements are already written, we can try to share that.

Thanks for joining us.

Have a nice day.