GENEVA, May 30, 2025 (WAFA) – Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, has sharply criticized Israel for its systematic misuse of humanitarian mechanisms to conceal and facilitate grave atrocities in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement issued Friday, Albanese warned that "the international community must stop Israel’s deliberate and ongoing use of humanitarian frameworks to mask and perpetuate atrocities in Gaza."
She described Israel’s approach as a form of “brutal humanitarian camouflage” that allows it to maintain control over the besieged enclave while deliberately depriving its population of life-saving aid. “We continue to witness horrific consequences, where Israel pretends to promote humanitarian solutions as a guise to deepen its grip on Gaza,” she said.
Albanese voiced alarm over Israel's “deliberate strategy to obscure atrocities,” including the displacement of civilians, bombing of already bombed areas, burning people alive, and disfiguring survivors—actions she said are cloaked in the language of aid to distract from legal accountability.
She also expressed concern over the establishment of the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—a body backed by Israel and the United States to distribute aid under full military oversight. Albanese criticized this initiative for failing to uphold international law and fundamental humanitarian principles such as humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality.
“Within hours, horrifying images and videos emerged from Gaza showing how this mechanism operates, including Israeli forces opening fire on unarmed Palestinian civilians. There appear to be no limits to Israel’s actions,” she stated.
As the occupying power, Albanese stressed, Israel is obligated to allow and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. “Access to aid must not be conditioned on political or military considerations,” she insisted.
Referring to the limited aid that entered Gaza after an 11-week Israeli siege, she said it was "nothing but a drop in the ocean," and described the starvation of an entire population followed by the shooting of civilians begging for food as "systematic cruelty."
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