[News] UN rapporteur: Israel carrying out 'settler-colonial genocide' against Palestinians

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeastmonitor.com
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241029-un-rapporteur-israel-carrying-out-settler-colonial-genocide-against-palestinians/>
UN rapporteur: Israel carrying out 'settler-colonial genocide' against
PalestiniansOctober 29, 2024

The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine issued a report late yesterday
accusing Israel of a systematic campaign of forced displacement,
destruction and acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the West
Bank.

In the report, which was submitted to the UN General Assembly, Francesca
Albanese described the “long-term, intentional, state-organised forced
displacement and replacement” of Palestinians, particularly following 7
October, 2023.

The report focused on “genocidal intent, contextualising the situation
within a decades-long process of territorial expansion and ethnic cleansing
aimed at liquidating the Palestinian presence in Palestine.”

“The violence that Israel has unleashed against the Palestinians post-7
October is not happening in a vacuum, but is part of a long-term
intentional, systematic, state-organised forced displacement and
replacement of the Palestinians,” Albanese warned.

The report also accused Israel of obstructing international investigation
efforts, including denying the entry of fact-finding teams from the UN and
the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The persistent denial of access to United Nations mechanisms and
investigators of the International Criminal Court (ICC) may constitute
obstruction of justice, in defiance of the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) order that Israel allow international investigators to enter Gaza and
take measures to ensure the preservation of evidence,” it said.

She noted that the ongoing “genocide is doubtlessly the consequence of the
exceptional status and protracted impunity that has been afforded to
Israel.”

*READ: UNRWA ban could kill more children in Gaza, UNICEF says
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241029-unrwa-ban-could-kill-more-children-in-gaza-unicef-says/>*

“Israel has systematically and flagrantly violated international law,
including (UN) Security Council resolutions and ICJ orders,” she said.
“This has emboldened the hubris of Israel and its defiance of international
law.”

“As the world watches the first live-streamed settler-colonial genocide,
only justice can heal the wounds that political expedience has allowed to
fester,” she added.
‘Gaza has been made unfit for human life’

The report also drew attention to the magnitude of destruction in Gaza,
saying it has prompted allegations of “domicide, urbicide, scholasticide,
medicide, cultural genocide and ecocide.”

It estimated that nearly 40 million tonnes of debris, including unexploded
ordnance and human remains, contaminate the ecosystem.

Additionally, more than 140 temporary waste sites and 340,000 tonnes of
untreated wastewater and sewage overflow have created breeding grounds for
diseases such as hepatitis A, respiratory infections, diarrhoea and skin
diseases.

<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240216-medical-equipment-israel-bans-from-entering-gaza/banned-in-gaza-2-1/>

Israel bans entry of medical equipment into Gaza since 9 October 2023,
exacerbating health emergency for thousands [The Egyptian Red Crescent and
aid workers]

“As Israeli leaders promised, Gaza has been made unfit for human life,” the
report said.

The report also mentioned Israeli-imposed restrictions on resources
essential for Palestinian survival, such as food, water and medical
supplies.

“Systematic attacks on Gaza food sovereignty indicate an intent to destroy
its population through starvation,” it said, recalling Israeli Finance
Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s remarks
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240805-blocking-aid-to-gaza-justified-and-moral-even-if-2m-civilians-starve-israel-minister-says/>in
August stating that starving the entire Gaza population was “justified and
moral.”

Escalating genocidal risk in West Bank

The report warned that violence and systematic targeting are spreading
beyond Gaza, raising serious concerns of genocidal risk in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem.

Since October 2023, Israeli occupation forces have reportedly conducted
over 5,500 raids in the West Bank, with hundreds of Palestinians killed and
thousands injured.

Albanese noted that this surge in violence has been fuelled by violent
settlers, often supported by Israeli forces, and said these patterns echo
the severity of Gaza’s devastation.

She cited alarming instances of Palestinian children being systematically
targeted, with at least 169 children killed since October 2023, nearly 80
per cent of whom were shot in the head or torso.

“The devastation inflicted on Gaza is now metastasising to the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem,” she warned, adding that some officials,
including Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have
publicly supported harsh treatment and mass arrests of Palestinians, with
9,400 currently detained under severe conditions.
States ‘must intervene now’

Albanese called on the international community to act decisively, saying
“member states must intervene now to prevent new atrocities that will
further scar human history.”

She urged states to use all their political leverage – commencing with a
full arms embargo and sanctions – so that Israel stops the assault against
the Palestinians, accepts a cease-fire and fully withdraws from the
occupied Palestinian territory in line with the ICJ advisory opinion
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240719-icj-israel-must-pay-reparations-to-palestinians/>
of 19 July.

She asked them to formally recognise Israel as an “apartheid state and
persistent violator of international law” while supporting independent and
thorough investigations.

The rapporteur also called on states to ensure unhindered humanitarian
assistance to Gaza and full financing and protection of UNRWA.

Lastly, she urged the ICC Prosecutor to investigate the commission of the
crimes of genocide and apartheid by Israel.

*READ: Turkiye leads campaign at the UN to stop supplying weapons to Israel
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241029-turkiye-leads-campaign-at-the-un-to-stop-supplying-weapons-to-israel/>*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20241029/5756e541/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: GettyImages-2110550184-scaled-e1712233767958.webp
Type: image/webp
Size: 49216 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20241029/5756e541/attachment-0001.webp>