Esra Taskin and Serdar Dincel
09 April 2025•Update: 09 April 2025
PANTIN, France/ISTANBUL
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, warned that Israel will continue its violence against Palestinians unless action is taken, saying there is "not much time left" to save the Palestinian people.
Speaking at a two-day event on Palestine in Pantin, a suburb of Paris, on April 5-6, Albanese told Anadolu that Israel has never respected the ceasefire since it began in January.
Albanese said that Israel has no intention of halting its actions for several reasons, claiming: "Because, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu will be the target of justice when he stops the war against the Palestinians.
"You may have noticed that Netanyahu was going to appear in court the day after he ordered a new attack against the people of Gaza. So, the question is; was there a connection? Maybe,” she added.
"I know that he has his own issues, with national and international justice, even though I think I no longer have any hope in national justice at the Israeli level or the international level, because you see everyone saying they're increasingly ready to roll out the red carpet for him,” stated Albanese.
Albanese said that the "ideological settlers" of the Israeli government want to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
She noted that they have seized "this historic moment, with Europe's weakness and the United States' aggressiveness," as an "opportunity" to advance the conquest of not just Palestine, but the Middle East.
"Because the attacks continue against Lebanon, against Syria. It would be crazy to think that Israel will stop here," she said.
Albanese also dismissed the influence of pro-Israeli groups trying to end her mandate at the UN. "It's their job. They're paid for it," she said.
'International law tells us what we must do'
Albanese emphasized that stopping Israel’s actions is possible within the framework of international law. "International law tells us what we must do: end the occupation, end the genocide, end apartheid," she said.
"However, another fundamental tool needed for this is the will of the states, and this does not exist." the UN rapporteur underlined.
Stating that the genocide in Gaza is intensifying to fulfill the ethnic cleansing plan in Palestine, Albanese added: "It is clear that Israel wants the lands from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River in order to establish the sovereignty of the Jewish people; that's what they say."
She also said that the Palestinians continue to pay the price of the Europeans' antisemitism of about a century ago.
Renewed assault on Gaza
The Israeli army renewed its deadly assault on Gaza on March 18, killing nearly 1,400 people and injuring over 3,400, while shattering a January ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
Last week, Netanyahu vowed to escalate attacks on Gaza as efforts continue to implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave.
Over 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its actions in Gaza.
