Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
A United Nations human rights expert has called for Israel to be held accountable under international law and urged countries to reconsider their ties, warning that the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate despite earlier ceasefire efforts.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said there is an urgent need for Israel to face legal accountability before International Criminal Court. Speaking on Tuesday, she stressed that without decisive international intervention, the prospects for protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza Strip are increasingly bleak.
Albanese pointed to what she described as a continued decline in conditions on the ground, even after a ceasefire agreement reached last October. According to her assessment, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the truce took effect, underscoring what she sees as a pattern of ongoing violence rather than de-escalation.
She warned that the lack of meaningful international action risks enabling further suffering. “Without large-scale intervention to stop Israel, I have no hope of saving Palestinians in Gaza,” she said, framing the crisis as one that demands immediate and coordinated global response.
The UN expert also criticized governments that maintain political, economic, or military relations with Israel, arguing that international law obliges states to refrain from supporting parties accused of committing war crimes. She called on countries to suspend such ties, including arms transfers, as part of broader efforts to halt the violence and alleviate humanitarian conditions.
Albanese further described the widespread destruction and severe shortages of food and essential supplies in Gaza as deliberate rather than incidental. Large parts of the enclave’s infrastructure have been devastated, leaving the population facing dire living conditions and limited access to basic services.
Her remarks come amid ongoing international debate over accountability and the role of global institutions in addressing alleged violations of humanitarian law. Calls for investigations and potential prosecutions at The Hague have intensified as the scale of destruction and civilian casualties continues to draw scrutiny from human rights organizations and international observers.
The conflict, which escalated dramatically in October 2023, has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties and widespread devastation, making it one of the most severe crises in the region in recent years.
