'Israel is relentless in smearing any critical voice': UN rapporteur

UN Special Rapporteur for Palestinians Francesca Albanese has lambasted Israel for preventing her from entering the country, saying that it was part of a broader pattern by Tel Aviv to avoid scrutiny of its murderous assault on Gaza.

“I've never been allowed (into Israel). And so was my predecessor,” Albanese tells TRT World. “This is a part of an attack on the UN as a whole. It's an attack on the UN Secretary-General, and, of course, it's an attack on me.”

The UN official's comments come amid Israel’s brutal military onslaught in Gaza that has killed an estimated 28,000 people, most of them women and children. Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment has also razed much of the besieged enclave to the ground.

Albanese says that Israel denying entry to UN agencies and officials “is not new”.

“Anyone who tries to bring scrutiny on Israeli practices against the Palestinians is being attacked by Israel,” she adds.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel issued a joint statement calling for the UN to disavow Albanese's “anti-semitic” remarks and terminate her employment.

Israeli officials have accused Albanese of anti-semitism for her post on X, where she argued that the victims were not targeted because of their faith but in response to Israeli oppression.

"The 'greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century'? No, Mr. Emmanuel Macron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel's oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims," she said in the post.

In an exclusive interview with TRT World World, Albanese highlights that criticising Israel's actions should not be equated with anti-semitism.

For years, a global network of Israeli advocacy groups has been lobbying Western governments to cut off funding to rights and civil society groups by tying them to terrorism and Palestinian resistance groups.

In one such recent case, Israel accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) of colluding with Hamas’s October 7 operation, prompting several donors to withdraw funding.

“Israel and other member states have been part of a campaign against UNRWA. Israel has not provided (concrete) evidence, even TV channels have said that the evidence is not conclusive, but still UNRWA continues to remain without funds,” Albanese says.

“And this is extremely serious at the moment. UNRWA represents a lifeline for millions of Palestinians in Gaza.”

A fortnight following the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) directive to Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and ensure humanitarian aid, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has said in a report that Tel Aviv continues to kill civilians in violation of international obligations, including laws against war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, since the ICJ ruling, the Israeli army has killed over 1,864 Palestinians, including 690 children and 441 women, and injured over 2,933 others in two weeks.

“Despite Israel not issuing visas to UN officials and other human rights organisations, the information continues to come in on what is happening on the ground. The ICJ has said that this is the first genocide in history which is being documented by the very victims,” Albanese tells TRT World.

“The killings, the maiming of children in Gaza is atrocious. What we are seeing is just a small portion of what is happening in Gaza.”