UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese: Israeli army “most degenerate on earth”

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UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese holds a press conference at the lower house of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, to present her new report titled “Genocide in Gaza: A Collective Crime” in Rome, Italy on February 03, 2026. [Barış Seçkin – Anadolu Agency]

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese described the Israeli occupation army as “the most degenerate army on earth,” stating that its practices have crossed all red lines and violated international law.

The UN Special Rapporteur made the remarks in response to a video documenting the brutal abuse of a Palestinian child by Israeli soldiers, writing on her official account: “I have seen enough to say it with absolute certainty: the Israeli army is the most degenerate army.”

Francesca Albanese has been subjected to a widespread incitement campaign and direct death threats since submitting an official report accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.

READ: Spain to urge EU to end Israel agreement over war: Premier Sanchez

In an interview with The Guardian, the UN Special Rapporteur said her life is under threat and that she lives in constant danger, describing her situation since publishing the report as a “roller coaster ride” due to the pressure and threats she faces.

According to the report, Israel has been waging a war of genocide against the Palestinians since 8th October, 2023, resulting in the destruction of most hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the killing, injury, and arrest of medical personnel, and the imposition of a siege that has worsened the humanitarian situation, particularly in the health sector.

The war has resulted in the deaths of more than 72,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, and more than 172,000 injuries, along with widespread destruction affecting 90 percent of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

READ: Hamas calls for Israel to implement first phase of Gaza ceasefire

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Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ...
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Continue ReadingUN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese: Israeli army “most degenerate on earth”

Torture, genocide and erasure

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Israeli settlers seize 13 apartments belonging to Palestinians in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem on March 25, 2026. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency].

by Ramona Wadi walzerscent

“This is not incidental violence. It is the architecture of settler-colonialism, built on a foundation of dehumanisation and maintained by a policy of cruelty and collective terror.” The concluding sentence to the summary of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s report to the UN Human Rights Council on torture and genocide succinctly sums up how Israel has been using torture as part of its gradual annihilation of the Palestinian people. Since October 2023, torture has become a weapon in Israel’s genocide.

Albanese notes that while torture is a crime under international law, the Genocide Convention describes torture as an underlying act of genocide “when inflicted with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group “as such”. Genocide, Albanese explains from the legal framework of the Genocide Convention, “many be committed through sustained practices that break bodies, minds and collective resilience.”

READ: Israeli army demolishes Palestinian park, car showroom in occupied West Bank

The historical realities of torture since the British Mandate contextualises the current torture practices Israel inflicts on Palestinians today. British torture practices were incorporated by Israel after 1948. In 1987, the Landau Commission effectively ruled in favour of torture “on a person suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.” With impunity assigned a foundation, what happens when a settler-colonial entity which treats Palestinians as legitimate targets for annihilation, blatantly considers all Palestinians as terrorists?

Torture becomes normalised, and because the international community has already subscribed to Israel’s security narrative, there is no opposition to a practice that, as Albanese illustrated, also constitutes an underlying act of genocide. 

It is not Israel’s torture of Palestinian detainees since October 2023 that catches attention when reading the report, but the analysis of how Israel uses genocide as a means of torture. Albanese’s report illustrates how mass displacement, the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and cultural sites, the erasure of collective memory through such destruction, the destruction of the healthcare system, starvation, permanent disabilities, as well as Israeli weaponry used against Palestinians in Gaza all constitute forms of torture. The same applies to the occupied West Bank, where sophisticated surveillance and military incursions, the destruction of refugee camps and agricultural land, all constitute forms of torture and genocidal violence.

READ: Gaza death toll from Israeli war nears 72,300, Health Ministry says

Having prioritised Israel’s security narrative over rights, both the Knesset and Israel’s judiciary have normalised torture. Albanese writes, “Torture has thus become a collective enterprise,” showing how the entire fabric of Israeli society renders itself a participant in torture practices through the settler-colonial narrative. “by targeting the totality of the people, across the totality of the occupied land, through a totality of conduct, genocide has become the ultimate form of torture: continuous, generational and collective.”

Justice, Albanese stated, should “confront torture not as an isolated crime, but as a foundational pillar of the genocidal project aimed at the complete erasure – physical and psychological destruction, displacement and replacement – of the Palestinian people.” Torture as state policy has ensured that no aspect of Palestinian life is immune. The report illustrates what statistical data omits – the price Palestinians are paying in their daily lives for the international community’s complicity with colonialism and genocide. 

BLOG: The UN leaves UNRWA isolated, and Palestinians prone to genocide

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

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Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel's criminal war for Israel's genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said "I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it's easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel's genocidal expansion.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Continue ReadingTorture, genocide and erasure

To advance ethnic cleansing, Israel wants to make Gaza City ‘unlivable’: UN rapporteur

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UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese attends a press conference at the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy, on July 29, 2025. [Riccardo De Luca - Anadolu Agency]

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese attends a press conference at the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy, on July 29, 2025. [Riccardo De Luca – Anadolu Agency]

Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza City aims to render the area uninhabitable as part of a broader plan of ethnic cleansing, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese warned Monday, Anadolu reports.

Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, Albanese said Israel’s offensive on Gaza’s largest urban center amounts to “full destruction.”

“The ongoing assault to take the last remnant of Gaza will not only devastate the Palestinians but also endanger the remaining Israeli hostages,” she said.

Albanese said the attack on Gaza City is already displacing hundreds of thousands. “Israel is bombing using unconventional weapons… trying to forcibly evacuate the 800,000 Palestinians who were seeking refuge there. Why? Because this is the last piece of Gaza that needs to be rendered unlivable before advancing the ethnic cleansing of that piece of land. And then probably they will move to the West Bank,” she said.

READ: Zamir says Hamas will not be defeated even if Israel occupies Gaza

She stressed the offensive is not about securing territory but about erasing its viability for residents. “It’s happening already. It’s not that this is a future and uncertain event … destroying entire neighborhoods, remnants of buildings where people were seeking shelter,” she said.

Calling the operation “unlawful,” the rapporteur said Israel has no legal grounds to continue its military presence in Gaza. She cited the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion requiring Israel to dismantle settlements, withdraw troops, stop exploiting Palestinian resources, pay reparations, and facilitate the return of displaced Palestinians.

Albanese warned that some states are attempting to shift focus away from these legal obligations, without specifying which countries.

The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 65,000 Palestinians since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

READ: 80 Israeli economists warn Gaza reoccupation to spark ‘severe economic crisis’

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Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA

Continue ReadingTo advance ethnic cleansing, Israel wants to make Gaza City ‘unlivable’: UN rapporteur