'No Stepping Back': UN expert affirms determination amid threats over Gaza genocide findings

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Acknowledging the backlash at a Geneva news conference, Albanese admitted to enduring a challenging period. Despite being appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022, she emphasised that she does not speak on behalf of the United Nations

Francesca Albanese. File Photo

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, reaffirmed her resolve on Wednesday despite facing threats over her determination that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

Albanese's recent statement asserting reasonable grounds to believe Israel's involvement in "genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza has sparked strong reactions. Israel criticized her report as a distortion of reality, while pro-Israeli groups have called for her resignation.

Acknowledging the backlash at a Geneva news conference, Albanese admitted to enduring a challenging period. Despite being appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022, she emphasized that she does not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

Reflecting on the ongoing pressure and attacks since the beginning of her mandate, Albanese disclosed receiving threats but noted that she hasn't deemed them serious enough to warrant additional precautions.

And the pressure merely encourages her "not to step back", Albanese said.

- Israeli visa ban -

Israel last month announced a visa ban on Albanese over comments denying that Hamas's October 7 attack was "anti-Semitic".

And it said that her report was "simply an extension of a campaign seeking to undermine the very establishment of the Jewish State".

The US State Department on Wednesday highlighted its longstanding opposition to Albanese's mandate, "which we believe is not productive".

Spokesman Matthew Miller accused the expert of having a "history of anti-Semitic comments", including some "that appeared to justify the attacks of October 7".

As for her report, he reiterated Washington's belief that "allegations of genocide are unfounded".

Albanese on Wednesday insisted that she did not "question the existence of the State of Israel", but wants Israel to behave "in accordance with international law".

She also reiterated that she had found no evidence that the October 7 attacks were "propelled by anti-Semitism".

The expert, who has argued the attack was motivated by "Israeli oppression", acknowledged that her comments were not "strategic" but said that she stood by her report.

Albanese, who has received support from a long line of mainly Arab and Muslim countries since releasing her report, said that when she eventually does leave her post, it will not be because of her critics.

"It won't be because they vilify or they mistreat me in the public discourse."

- Complicit? -

Albanese said that she "of course" condemned Hamas and its brutal attack on Israel, but added: "nothing justifies what Israel is doing".

The October 7 attack resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,400 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas health ministry, and has spurred a humanitarian catastrophe and UN warnings of a looming famine.

Albanese has called for an "international protective presence" in Gaza, and has also demanded that other countries impose sanctions and an arms embargo to stem the violence.

Countries, she stressed, have obligations under the UN Genocide Convention to act "immediately" when a risk of genocide is detected.

Albanese said she next intended to investigate the possible "complicity" of the United States, Israel's main backer, and also other countries.

"The genocide has already been committed," she said, but added that "we can still save lives and we can still halt the descent into the abyss."

With inputs from AFP