UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, stated Saturday that Israel has been targeting the Palestinian people in a genocidal campaign across all the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.She emphasized that any attempt to separate Gaza from the West Bank remains a mere illusion.Albanese stressed that the distinction between Gaza and the West Bank is fictitious, adding that Israel has fragmented Palestinian land and people in such a way that it makes people believe Gaza and the West Bank are separate. But no, they are the same. Israel is targeting Palestinians as a people, and this is what defines the crime of genocide.The genocide that began in Gaza is now spreading to the West Bank, and the Palestinian people are facing the same risks, she continued.Regarding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Albanese stressed that Israel's attacks on the agency are not about denying the Palestinian right of return but rather about targeting the largest UN body in the occupied Palestinian territories.Israel wants to eliminate UNRWA because it stands as a symbol of international presence in Palestine, one that rejects Israel's ethnic cleansing policies. The rights of Palestinian refugees, including the right of return and compensation, are protected under international law, not contingent on UNRWA's existence, Albanese continued.She added that the call to suspend Israel's UN membership should not be overlooked, given its assaults on UN institutions in the occupied Palestinian territories. (
