The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has said that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip may again be subjected to ethnic cleansing by Israel. She said this in a statement released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Francesca Albanese writes that Israel has in the relatively recent past already carried out ethnic cleansing under the guise of war in the Gaza Strip. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, this could happen again today.
“Israel has already carried out massive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under the cover of war. Again, in the name of self-defence, Israel is trying to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing. Any ongoing Israeli military operations go far beyond international law. The international community must stop these blatant violations of international law now before tragic history repeats itself. Time is of the essence,” said the UN Special Representative for Human Rights.
The representative of the international organisation cited statistics according to which more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023, including approximately 600 children. In addition, she said, some 7,600 have been variously injured and 423,000 people have been displaced as a result of Israeli strikes.
“The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel has reached a climax. The UN and its member states must intensify efforts to mediate an immediate ceasefire between the parties before we reach a point of no return,” Albanese summarises.
Earlier, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the Israeli army used white phosphorus munitions prohibited by international conventions in strikes on sites in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.