Today, Monday, November 28, 2022, Mrs. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, spoke at the Council on International Relations conference on the blockade of Gaza about the Palestinian humanitarian situation and the legal status of the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Francesca said that the Israeli occupation deliberately and systematically steals Palestinian lands and resources, and deprives Palestinians of their right to self-determination.

She added that there is systematic suppression by the occupation of everything related to the Palestinian identity as part of the occupation’s efforts to prevent the Palestinians from the right to self-determination for decades.

She emphasized that the Israeli occupation is an occupying colonial entity, and it is classified under international law as illegal colonizers and settlers, as they occupy the lands of others.

Albanese indicated that the international community does not welcome any kind of resistance except for peaceful resistance, while stressing that the occupation does not have the right, under the law, to defend itself against the owners of the land.

Regarding Gaza, Albanese added that under international law, the blockade on Gaza is a collective punishment practiced by the Israeli occupation against more than 2 million Palestinian citizens.

She called for the immediate lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is part of the Israeli occupation’s political system against the Palestinians.

She said that the international community recognizes the illegality of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but has not taken any actual decision to change the reality in the city and support the Palestinians against the Israeli occupation.

In conclusion, she stressed that the issue of Palestine is the responsibility of the international community, headed by the United Nations because it contributed to creating this situation from the beginning.