In a report, drawn up using data from organizations present in Gaza and interviews with experts and civilians, diplomat Francesca Albanese identifies three constitutive elements of the genocide.
A report entitled “Anatomy of a genocide”. The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, presents a study on Tuesday March 26 (in PDF) claiming that Israel has committed several “acts of genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
The diplomat, accused by Israel of having made remarks “anti-Semitic”, was not allowed to go to the Palestinian enclave. Its report was drawn up using data from organizations present in Gaza and interviews with experts and civilians.
In response, the Israeli representation to the United Nations in Geneva “totally rejected the report” of Francesca Albanese and claimed that he was part “a campaign aimed at undermining the very establishment of the Jewish state”. The United States also declared that it did not “no reason to believe that Israel committed acts of genocide in Gaza”.
The crime of genocide is defined by the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This text stipulates that a genocide is characterized when acts, detailed in article 2 of the text, are committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”. Francesca Albanese believes “that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating that acts of genocide [ont été commis] against the Palestinians in Gaza has been achieved”. The rapporteur, mandated by the Human Rights Council, but who does not speak on behalf of the organization, believes that three constituent elements of genocide are present.
The very heavy human toll
THE “murder of group members” is the first act mentioned in the Convention that can be considered an act of genocide. In her report, Francesca Albanese develops : “VSand act includes deaths resulting from direct actions or negligence…including deaths caused by imposed starvation or other conditions threatening the survival of the group.” In her argument, she denounces in particular “Israel’s reinforced blockade on GazaWho “has led to starvation deaths, including 10 children per day, by hindering access to vital supplies.”.
It also points to the use by Israel at the start of the war of “more than 25,000 tons of explosives [équivalent à deux bombes nucléaires] on countless buildings” in areas “densely populated”. Taking Hamas figures, Francesca Albanese stresses that 70% of Palestinians killed are women and children and that Israel has not proven that “Remaining 30% were active Hamas fighters” while it comes to“a necessary condition for them to be legally targeted”.
At the beginning of March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the German newspaper Bild that the Israeli army had killed 13,000 Hamas members. But Hamas figures suggested that “9,000 deaths in Gaza [sur près de 31 000 morts à Gaza à l’époque] concerned adult men”, including civilians, analyzes the BBC. An inconsistency which demonstrates that Israel “targeted indiscriminately” the Gazan population, accuses Francesca Albanese.
In November 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu assured the American channel CBS News that Israel “did everything possible to keep civilians out of danger”, in particular by dropping leaflets urging them to flee, but that these steps had not made it possible to minimize the losses. On Monday, the Israeli representation to the United Nations in Geneva reiterated that the war waged by Israel was “against Hamas, not against Palestinian civilians”.
Physical and psychological damage
THE “serious attacks on the physical or mental integrity of members of the group” constitute the second act of genocide, according to Francesca Albanese. The United Nations special rapporteur notes that these attacks lead to “a serious, long-term disadvantage in a person’s ability to lead a normal and constructive life”. He does not need “to be permanent or irreparable” and can be caused by torture, sexual violence, persecution, etc. Since the October 7 attacks and the start of the war, Palestinians “suffered unremitting physical and psychological damage”, thus denounces the rapporteur.
She accuses the Israeli forces to have “detained thousands of Palestinians, mainly men and young boys”. “Many of them have been seriously ill-treated, including torture, sometimes resulting in death or long-term disability”, she continues. By blocking the arrival of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, Israel has also provoked “critical shortages of medical supplies, including antibiotics and disinfectants” thus leading to “dangerous health procedures, such as amputations without anesthesia, including on children”.
“Inflicting serious physical or mental harm on children can reasonably be construed as a means of destroying the group in whole or in part.”
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territoriesin his report
Israel has always rejected accusations of mistreatment. In early March, the Israeli army, cited by CNN, declared that “the ill-treatment inflicted on detainees during their detention or during their interrogations violates the values of the IDF and (…) are therefore absolutely prohibited”. On March 18, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz assured that the Jewish state authorized the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, “by land, air and sea”after airdrops carried out by France and the United States were organized on the Palestinian territory.
In January, before the International Court of Justice, one of the lawyers for the Jewish state, then being prosecuted for “genocide” by South Africa, defended: “What Israel seeks by operating in Gaza is not to destroy a people, but to protect a people, its own, attacked on multiple fronts”quoted The world.
The “intentional” degradation of living conditions on site
The third act of genocide denounced by Francesca Albanese’s report is the “intentional subjection of the group to conditions of existence intended to bring about its total or partial physical destruction”. The diplomat describes it as “behavior which does not directly kill the members of the group, but which is capable of leading, by various means, to its physical destruction”. She argues by citing the destruction by Israeli bombings of hospitals, telecommunications infrastructures, universities and even monuments of Palestinian heritage.
It also relies on public statements by Israeli officials. On October 9, 2023, the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, notably announced in the Gaza Strip a “full siege (…), no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel”. The Minister of Energy at the time, Israel Katz, also warned: “No electrical switch will be turned on, no water pump will be turned on…until the kidnapped Israelis return home.” Francesca Albanese emphasizes that ground operations and aerial bombardments “destroyed agricultural lands, farms, crops, animals and fishing facilities”harming the food security of Palestinians.
The special rapporteur also discusses Israel’s attacks against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNWRA. In a video, Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for the Israeli army, assured that the organization had “terrorists” in its ranks. “More than 450 people belonging to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, mainly Hamas, are also employed by UNRWA”, he had accused. These declarations led to a reduction in its subsidies, “worsening the humanitarian situation”according to Francesca Albanese.