War crimes already happening before Oct 7, UN rep calls out 'paralysed' international community
SHAH ALAM - The atrocities the world is seeing in Gaza now and on the Palestinians did not start last month, says the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.
Francesca Albanese has criticised vast sections of the international community and the media who had forgotten or tuned out, that the conflict had begun decades ago.
She said that Palestinians had long been subjected to a “violent structure of dispossession, confiscation of land and forcible displacement.”
“'When it is widespread or systematic, it is not just a war crime, it is a crime against humanity.
“There were already war crimes being committed before Oct 7,” she said in an address to Australia’s National Press Club on Tuesday during her visit there.
The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories “must end” and was “apartheid by default”, she said adding that a plan to end it was crucial.
The “right to self-defence” does not apply to Israel against Hamas under international law, she said stating that Israel was committing “war crimes.”
She added that they must be held accountable for their actions especially since from a legal perspective, Israel’s right to self-defence was “non-existent” as they had ignored proportionality in its “unrelenting bombardment of Gaza.”
Albanese went to criticise the international community for being almost “completely paralysed” amid the unfolding crisis, adding that Palestinians were facing the “most significant existential threat” and it was not enough for Western countries to back Israel’s right to defend itself.
She said Israel could not claim self-defence in the laws of war because that could only be prescribed when under threat from another state.
“Israel cannot claim the right of self-defence against a threat that emanates from a territory it occupies, from a territory that is under belligerent occupation.
“What Israel was allowed to do was to act to establish law and order, to repel the attack, neutralise whoever was carrying out the attacks and then proceed with law and order measures... Not waging a war.
“What is being done (in Gaza) is wrong... How many more people need to die?.
“I am being generous when I say the UN is experiencing its most epic political and humanitarian failure since its creation.
“Individual member states, especially in the West and Australia are no exception, are on the margins. Muttering notable words of condemnation for Israel’s success at best or staying silent in fear of restraining Israel’s... claimed right to self-defence. Whatever that means,” she said.
She said the reality “epitomises” how the international community had “so ethically failed to promote peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis, premised on international law, the end of Israel’s 56-year-old patient and the realisation of Palestinian self-determination and freedom”.
She called for an urgent ceasefire, an arms embargo and humanitarian corridors to be set up as well as for the return of all Israeli hostages.
More than 11,200 people have been killed after nearly six weeks of relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials, with no signs of a ceasefire in the besieged enclave.
