International Desk

Israel is working to destroy the notion of Palestinian existence in Gaza and using fake humanitarian support measures to reach its goal during its five months of military operations, UN’s Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory said Tuesday.

The stories on number of deaths, the irreparable harm done to those who survive, the systematic destruction of every aspect necessary to sustain life in Gaza – from hospitals to schools, from homes to arable land – are harrowing, said Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese in a report to the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday.

Added to the killings and infrastructure destructions are the apparent intentional harm done particularly to hundreds of thousands of children, pregnant and young mothers.

All these can only be interpreted as constituting “prima facie evidence” of an intention to systematically destroy the Palestinians as a group, she added.

Following an analysis of Israel’s actions and patterns of violence in its onslaught on Gaza, underpinned by dehumanising rhetoric by high-ranking Israeli officials and often reflected in soldiers’ actions on the ground, the Francesca’s report found that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide had been met.

Since 7 October, Israel has killed over 32,333 Palestinians, including more than 13,000 children. Over 12,000 are presumed dead under the rubble and 74,694 wounded, many with life-changing injuries. About 80% of the entire Gaza population has been forcibly displaced with 70% of residential areas destroyed.

Thousands of families have lost loved ones or been wiped out entirely. Many could not bury and mourn their relatives and were forced instead to leave their bodies decomposing in homes, in the street or under the rubble. Thousands of Palestinians have been detained and systematically subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. About two million people have been forced into hunger and starvation.

“The incalculable collective trauma will be experienced for generations to come,” Special Rapporteur Francesca said.

The vehement anti-Palestinian discourse, which frames the entire Palestinian people in Gaza as enemies to be eradicated and forcibly removed has been pervasive across all segments of Israeli society, the expert said.

“Calls for violent annihilation from Israeli high-ranking officials with command authority aimed at soldiers on duty on the ground serve as compelling evidence of explicit and public encouragement to commit genocide,” Albanese said.

One of the key findings of Albanese’s report is that Israel's executive and military leadership and soldiers have intentionally distorted foundational rules of international humanitarian law – distinction, proportionality and precaution – in an attempt to legitimise genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.

“By deliberately redefining the categories of human shields, evacuation orders, safe zones, collateral damage and medical protection Israel has used their protective functions as ‘humanitarian camouflage’ to conceal its genocidal campaign,” she said.

“Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is an escalatory stage of a long-standing settler colonial process of erasure,” said Albanese.

“For over 70 years, this process has suffocated the Palestinians as a people – demographically, culturally, economically and politically – crushing their inalienable right to self-determination in an attempt to displace them and expropriate and control their lands,” she said.

“The ongoing Nakba must be stopped and remedied once and for all.”

Albanese said her report was a call to the world to ensure that Israel and third states adhere to their obligations under the Genocide Convention, to prevent further loss of life, help survivors rebuild their lives, and ensure full accountability under both individual criminal and state responsibility.

“This is an imperative owed to the victims of this highly preventable tragedy, and to future generations in Palestine,” the special rapporteur said.