The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News , Press Conferences | HRC
HRC Press Conference: Special Rapporteur on oPt - 27 March 2024
Rights expert alleges ‘genocidal incitement’ being committed in Gaza
Israel's "genocidal incitement" against Palestinians in Gaza transcends the scope of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory alleged on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Human Rights Council, Francesca Albanese maintained that Israel had used “humanitarian camouflage” to pursue nearly six months of intense bombardment in Gaza, in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on Israeli communities that left some 1,200 dead and more than 250 taken hostage.
“Israel has justified - has explained - its military actions as proportionate, as not targeting civilians; they didn't achieve that goal, considering that 70 per cent, 70 per cent of the victims have steadily been women and children, throughout the assault on Gaza.”
Ms. Albanese’s comments came a day after she presented her report to the Human Rights Council maintain that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide” had been met.
At a scheduled Press conference, the Special Rapporteur insisted that the “flagrant and systematic slaughter of Palestinian civilians, the deployment of unlawful weaponry, the utter obliteration of vital civilian infrastructure, including the deliberate targeting of all Gaza’s hospitals and the man-made starvation of the Palestinian people transcend the realm of war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
Speaking in French, the independent rights expert who is not a UN staff member referenced the “Nakba”, or “catastrophe”, that Palestinians use to describe the events of 1947 when many were displaced after the founding of the State of Israel, and the 1967 war between Israel and regional neighbours.
"To be pursued, pulled apart as a people, that’s the Nakba. The Nakba is what Palestinians have lived through since 1947 and also in 1967, nobody talks about it, but the destruction of villages, the forced depopulation – that’s what they went through. It’s for this reason that I’m saying this is not exactly new (but) now it has reached a level that we can no longer ignore.”
Ms. Albanese also made reference to the use of dehumanizing rhetoric about Palestinians in Israel after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led terror attacks: “Having people in with command authority or having the Prime Minister and having the President of the State issuing statements, they are so dehumanising, evoking violence, not once, not twice, continuously for months; it's supported by jurisprudence in other in other cases that this is genocidal incitement.”
Citing international law, Ms. Albanese previously explained that genocide is defined as a specific set of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
“Specifically, Israel has committed three acts of genocide with the requisite intent, causing seriously serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent birth within the group,” she said.
ends
STORY: Albanese OPT Report
TRT: 2:26”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 27 March 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley
2. Wide shot: speaker at the podium of the press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Speaker: Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on The Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967: “The flagrant and systematic slaughter of Palestinian civilians, the deployment of unlawful weaponry, the utter obliteration of vital civilian infrastructure, including the deliberate targeting of all Gaza’s hospitals and the man-made starvation of the Palestinian people transcend the realm of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
4. Medium shot: Journalists in the press room
5. SOUNDBITE (French) – Speaker : Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on The Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967 : "Être chassé, désintégré en tant que peuple c’est quelque chose qui est la Nakba. La Nakba c’est ce que les Palestiniens ont vécu depuis 1947 et encore en 1967personne n’en parle mais la destruction de villages, le dépeuplement forcé c’est ce qu’ils ont vécu. C’est pour ça, ce que je dis ce n’est pas tout à fait nouveau maintenant on a atteint un niveau qu’on ne peut plus ignorer. ”
6. Wide shot: speakers at the podium filmed from behind during the press conference with journalists in the press room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Speaker: Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on The Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967: “Israel has justified, has explained its military actions as proportionate, as not targeting civilians - they didn't achieve that goal, considering that 70 per cent, 70 per cent of the victims have steadily been women and children - throughout the assault on Gaza.”
8. Wide shot: Journalists, cameraman and people in the gallery of the press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – – Speaker: Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on The Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967: “Having people in with command authority or having the Prime Minister and having the President of the State issuing statements, they are so dehumanising, evoking violence, not once, not twice, continuously for months; it's supported by jurisprudence in other in other cases that this is genocidal incitement.”
10. Medium shot: journalists in the press room
11. Wide shot: speakers at the podium filmed from behind during the press conference with journalists in the press room
12. Medium shot: journalists in the press room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP , OCHA
UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNCTAD , WMO , WFP , UN WOMEN , WHO , OCHA
Rolando Gómez, Chief of Section, Public Information, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the World Food Programme, UN Women, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the World Meteorological Organization.
1
2
1
Press Conferences | WMO
WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WMO , UNICEF , UNDP , ICRC , WHO , OCHA
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Meteorological Organization, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
2
5
1
2
Press Conferences | UNCTAD
UNCTAD / 16TH CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
As the global economy undergoes tectonic shifts in trade, finance and technology, global economic and development leaders will gather in Geneva this month to chart a path through mounting uncertainty and fragmentation. Ahead of the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16), Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan outlines how countries can navigate record debt, disrupted supply chains, volatile investment flows and accelerating digital transformation. UNCTAD / UNTV CH
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , UN WOMEN , UNHCR , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNECE
UNECE Press conference on the Ministerial Meeting on Housing Affordability and Sustainablility
On 8 October 2025, UNECE member States' ministers meet to focus on the urgent challenges and strategic priorities surrounding housing affordability and sustainability in the UNECE region. Ten years after the adoption of the Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing, ministers will highlight challenges and key priorities for the achievement of the Charter's objectives, and present good practice and strategic solutions in this regard. As the key outcome of the meeting, ministers will be invited to agree on practical commitments towards sustainable and affordable housing.
The meeting will take place as part of the eighty-sixth session of the UNECE Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management (8–10 October 2025).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , UNHCR , UNICEF , UNOG , WHO , IPU
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF, the World Health Organisation, and the International Parliamentary Union.