LONDON
The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories said Friday that Israel should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza together with the US and other main arms provider countries.
Speaking at an event in London on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese noted that there should be a full assessment of complicity over the genocide in Gaza, stressing that not just Israel but all the states aiding genocide should face sanctions.
"States must cut ties with Israel, must stop aiding and assisting a state that maintains an unlawful occupation," said Albanese.
Touching on the accountability, the special rapporteur said that Israel should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, together with the US, Germany, and Italy, who are the main weapons providers.
She went on to say that there should be a robust investigation into the UK's complicity with this genocide through its services that have been provided from Cyprus bases.
"If Israel do not want to be accused of colonial practices, it should not behave as a colonial power, as a colonial entity, taking land, displacing the people," she added.
Saying that the two years of genocide in Gaza is "the combination of 60 years of impunity," she noted that it is not going to stop "unless things change in London or in Rome, or in Berlin, or in Paris."
'No robust response against sanctions'
Touching on US sanctions against her, Albanese said that with the sanctions, Albanese herself, International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, or Palestinian human rights groups are "considered like criminals."
"There has not been robust enough for response, or a robust enough response to this to have the sanctions lifted," she said.
Saying that since she is banned from traveling to the US, she cannot present her reports to the UN General Assembly, while also adding that she also cannot open a bank account.
UN experts in August warned that US sanctions on Albanese threaten the human rights system, a month after the US announced it imposed sanctions on the special rapporteur for her "efforts to prompt" ICC action against US and Israeli officials.
In August, the US also sanctioned four ICC officials for authorizing the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing both officials of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
About 250,000 families are currently living in displacement camps across the Gaza Strip, many facing cold weather and flooding inside fragile tents, according to the Civil Defense.
Although a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, living conditions in Gaza have not improved, as Israel continues to impose strict restrictions on the entry of aid trucks, violating the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.
Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite the truce.