Israel risks ‘pariah’ status over Gaza ‘genocide’: UN experts

Geneva: United Nations rights experts warned Monday that Israel risked becoming an international “pariah” over its “genocide” in Gaza, suggesting that the country’s UN membership should be called into question.

Several independent UN experts decried what they said was Israel’s escalating violence and rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank, its disregard for international court rulings and verbal attacks on the UN itself.

The rapporteurs, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the UN, also slammed Western countries’ “double standards” in the devastating war and insisted Israel needed to face consequences for its actions.

“I think that it is unavoidable for Israel to become a pariah in the face of its continuous, relentless vilifying assault on the United Nations, (and) Palestinians,” said Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Albanese, who has repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and who has faced harsh criticism and calls for her dismissal from Israel, asked if the country deserved “to continue to go unpunished for its relentless attacks” on the UN.

“Should there be a consideration of its membership as part of this organisation, which Israel seems to have zero respect for?” she rhetorically asked journalists in Geneva, speaking via video call.

George Katrougalos, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of democratic and equitable international order, also stressed that Israel be held to the same standards as all countries, and condemned its repeated attacks on critical UN officials or agencies.

“We cannot anymore stand this kind of double standards and hypocrisy,” he told reporters.

“I hope that it is not going to continue... I trust that the progressive and democratic citizens of Israel would not let their country become a pariah like South Africa had become during the times of apartheid.”

Israel has rejected accusations that its offensive in Gaza amounts to a “genocide” and says it is conducting operations within the framework of international law.

“Francesca Albanese is well-known for abusing her inherently discriminatory UN mandate to spread her hate-filled political agenda, anti-Semitism and disinformation. Her attitude, including defending and justifying Hamas’ actions, is a constant stain on the United Nations”, the Israeli mission said on Monday.

The war in Gaza erupted after the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has so far killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.