Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip
United Nations, July 8 (RHC)-- The UN special rapporteur on Palestine has called for the enforcement of a ceasefire in Gaza where people are trapped in "a hell without comparison."
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, made the remarks in an interview on Sunday. “There is no other way to stop this carnage in Gaza other than enforcing a ceasefire [on Israel],” she said.
The UN special rapporteur said it’s shocking that there’s no ceasefire in Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding one. “There is no way they can be safe in Gaza. It is shocking to me that there is even a resolution of the UN Security Council ordering a ceasefire and it is still not in place,” she noted.
Albanese said: “I can see that level of violence and tension is escalating in the past months.”
However, she said there’s no tangible signal that the U.S.-Israeli genocide will stop despite the ongoing truce talks.
Francesca Albanese has raised concerns over the use of human shields by the Israeli regime, after a footage shared online showed an injured Palestinian man strapped to the hood of an Israeli armored vehicle in Jenin.
The UN rapporteur pointed out that politicians have failed to respond to public demands for action against Israel. She said the worldwide reaction to Israel’s attack on Gaza has gone quieter in recent weeks after anti-Israel protests were repressed, including in the West.
People are horrified with what is happening in Gaza and distressed because politicians fail to respond to their demands for action against Israel, Albanese indicated. “The politics do not align with the street,” she said.
This comes as the Israeli regime has been accused of attempting to sabotage a ceasefire proposal by introducing new demands despite previously accepting the plan. Hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza had risen in recent days following reports that the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement had given initial approval for a new proposal for a phased deal.
Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on a ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said on Sunday. "We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation's response," one of the officials said.
Citing an unnamed source, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israel had presented new demands in the ongoing ceasefire talks after Hamas agreed to the latest terms. The new Israeli demands could delay the agreement for weeks, the newspaper said.
The Israeli regime is pushing ahead with its air and artillery attacks in the besieged Gaza Strip as the genocidal war enters its tenth month.
The latest massacres have raised the number of Palestinians killed so far to over 38,150 leaving nearly 88,000 others injured.