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U.N. Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese stated that Israel is responsible for "one of the cruelest genocides in modern history" during a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting.
Albanese presented her report titled "From Occupation Economy to Genocide Economy," examining the economic factors of Israel's actions against Palestinians.
"The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic," Albanese told the U.N. Human Rights Council. "Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history."
She said official figures count over 200,000 Palestinians killed or injured, but leading health experts estimate "the true toll is far higher."
Albanese criticized Israel's Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, describing it as designed to kill or force the displacement of Palestinians.
"The so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is nothing more than a death trap engineered to kill or force the flight of a starved, bombarded, emaciated population marked for destruction," she stated.
She said people in Gaza continue to endure suffering beyond imagination under bombardment and starvation conditions.
In the occupied West Bank, Albanese said Palestinians face "the largest forced displacement" since 1967, with armed settlers attacking while 900 checkpoints restrict daily life.
"Approximately 1,000 people were killed, 10,000 injured, 10,000 detained, and many tortured while armed settlers wreaked havoc," she reported. Albanese also noted that while Palestinians suffer, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has gained 213% in dollar terms since October 2023.
The increase amounted to $67.8 billion last month and $125.7 billion in total, she said.
The rapporteur said Israel is using the conflict as "an opportunity" to test new weapons, surveillance technologies, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
"While Elbit Systems won the Israeli Defense Ministry's innovation award, a global network of Lockheed Martin and 1,650 other companies benefited from Israel's F-35 fighter jets flying in beast mode for the first time and carrying up to 22,000 kilograms of ammunition, four times more than when operating in stealth mode," Albanese said.
She highlighted that numerous arms companies achieved record profits by supplying Israel with weapons, stating that 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."
Albanese called for states to completely abstain from and end relationships with what she termed the "occupation economy that has become a genocide economy."
She urged U.N. member states to "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."
Israeli forces resumed intensive attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 after a cease-fire that took effect on Jan. 19.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, at least 57,012 Palestinians have been killed and 134,592 injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. Since Israel broke the cease-fire on March 18, 6,454 people have died and 22,551 have been injured in Gaza.
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Separately, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir renewed calls for full occupation of the Gaza Strip and cessation of humanitarian aid.
"We must not stop for even a moment. We need to achieve a full victory, occupy all of Gaza, stop humanitarian aid, and encourage migration, not partial deals," Ben-Gvir told Israel's Army Radio.
He opposed any hostage deal and cease-fire, calling such agreements "reckless" and urging Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in blocking emerging agreements.
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