Rapporteur calls for suspending Israel's UN membership over Gaza genocide

A UN rapporteur called on Wednesday for Israel's UN membership to be suspended, citing ongoing violations of international law and the occupation of Palestinian territories.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, warned that the impunity granted to Israel had allowed it to become a "serial violator of international law", in comments during a briefing at the UN  headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

Albanese recommended that the General Assembly consider suspending Israel's UN membership credentials until it ceases its violations of international law and ends its occupation of Palestinian territories, which she said were "clearly unlawful".

She highlighted that the establishment of the Israeli state had come at a "huge price" for the Palestinians and their status had not been addressed since 1967, adding that Palestinians had been increasingly segregated and repressed.

"Israel, in the pursuit of realizing Greater Israel, is attempting to reduce physically or spiritually ... the presence of the Palestinian identity in the occupied Palestinian territory," she said, adding that 75 percent of Gaza's population are refugees.

"They're not from Gaza. They're from modern-day Israel and therefore the presence is a continuous reminder for Israel of what I call its original sin, in fact, that its creation doesn't matter the justification behind it," she said.

Albanese stressed that Israel had no right to remain in any occupied Palestinian territory.

"The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to withdraw, unconditionally, totally, rapidly as possible its military presence, dismantling the colonies, stopping the seizing the exploitation of natural resources on the occupied Palestinian territory and making also reparations," she said.

She presented the findings of her report, which was released on Monday and found that Israel was carrying out a systematic campaign of forced displacement, destruction, and genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

In her report to the UN General Assembly, Albanese described the "long-term, deliberate, state-led displacement and replacement" of Palestinians, especially following the beginning of the war in the Gaza in October 2023.

The report emphasised "genocidal intent" as part of Israel's decades-long strategy of territorial expansion and ethnic cleansing aimed at eradicating the Palestinian presence from their homeland.

"The violence that Israel has unleashed against the Palestinians post-7 October is not happening in a vacuum, but is part of a long-term intentional, systematic, state-organised forced displacement and replacement of the Palestinians," the report said.

The report also accused Israel of hindering international investigation efforts by blocking entry for fact-finding teams from the UN and the International Criminal Court.

"The persistent denial of access to United Nations mechanisms and investigators of the International Criminal Court (ICC) may constitute obstruction of justice, in defiance of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order that Israel allow international investigators to enter Gaza and take measures to ensure the preservation of evidence," it said.

In her report, Albanese urged the international community to act decisively, saying "member states must intervene now to prevent new atrocities that will further scar human history."

She also called on states to formally label Israel as an "apartheid state and persistent violator of international law," while advocating for robust, independent investigations.

Despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, the Israeli military has continued a destructive offensive in Gaza since the cross-border attack by Hamas in October of last year.

Local health authorities report over 43,000 deaths, mostly women and children, and more than 101,100 injuries in the territory since the attacks began. The true death toll could be much higher because thousands of bodies are believed to be trapped under rubble.

The Israeli campaign has displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza under an ongoing siege.

Israel faces a genocide case before the International Court of Justice due to its actions in Gaza.