Israel is responsible for "one of the cruellest genocides in modern history," the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory has said, accusing Tel Aviv of weaponising Gaza as a testing ground and calling for sweeping international action, including a full international arms embargo and the suspension of trade and investment ties.
"The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic," Francesca Albanese told the UN Human Rights Council, presenting her latest report on Thursday.
"In Gaza, Palestinians continue to endure suffering beyond imagination. Israel is responsible for one of the cruellest genocides in modern history."
Albanese said official figures count over 200,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, but leading health experts estimate "the true toll is far higher."
She denounced the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation”, Israel's new aid mechanism in Gaza, with hundreds of associated deaths to date as a “death trap – engineered to kill or force the flight of a starved, bombarded, emaciated population marked for."
Profits from genocide, she highlights the economic gains made during the war, noting that in the past 20 months, arms companies have reaped huge profits by supplying Israel with weapons used to bombard Gaza.
"Arms companies have turned near-record profits by equipping Israel with cutting-edge weaponry to unleash 85,000 tons of explosives – six times the power of Hiroshima – to destroy Gaza," she said.
The report also points to 213 percent gains on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since October 2023, describing a stark contrast: "One people enriched, one people erased."
Calling out Israel of using the war to "test new weapons, customised surveillance, lethal drones, and radar systems," Albanese warned that Palestine's defencelessness had made it "an ideal laboratory for the Israeli military-industrial complex."
She named 48 corporate actors, including arms manufacturers, banks, tech companies, energy giants, and academic institutions, alleging that they are directly linked to a broader "economy of occupation" sustaining the Israeli state's actions.
According to her report; the most important firms mentioned are Amazon, Microsoft, BNP Paribas, Booking, and Korean HD Hyundai.
"Weapons and data systems brutalise and surveil Palestinians," she said. "Colonies spread –financed by banks and insurers, powered by fossil fuels, and normalised by tourism platforms, supermarket chains, and academic institutions."
Responsibility
Under international law, she said, even a minimal connection to this system carries clear responsibility. "There is a prima facie responsibility on every state and corporate entity to completely abstain from or end their relationships with this economy of occupation."
In a direct appeal to UN member states, Albanese called for bold steps: "Member states must impose a full arms embargo on Israel, suspend all trade agreements and investment relations, and enforce accountability, ensuring that corporate entities face legal consequences for their involvement in serious violations of international law."
She also called on businesses to act, stressing: "Corporate entities must urgently cease all business activities and terminate relationships directly linked with, contributing to, and causing human rights violations and international crimes against the Palestinian people."
Albanese said she no longer believed ignorance or ideology were sufficient explanations for global inaction. "In the face of genocide – so visible, so livestreamed – these explanations fall short.”
She concluded with a call for civil society to play its part, saying: "Trade unions, lawyers, civil society groups, and ordinary citizens should encourage such behavioural change from the side of businesses and governments by pressing for boycotts, divestments, sanctions, and accountability. What comes next depends on all of us."
