The occupied Palestinian territories are subject to a full arms embargo, according to Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the region, and withdraw international support for what she described as an “economy of genocide.”
In a speech to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, Albanese made the remarks as she presented her most recent report, which listed dozens of businesses she claimed were involved in Palestinian-related Israeli repression and violence.
She claimed that “the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic.” One of the most atrocious genocides in recent memory is caused by Israel.
Nearly 57, 000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the conflict’s 22nd month began, according to the UN, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced frequently. Additionally, hundreds of thousands have been displaced, and hospitals and schools have been targeted.
Genocide is profitable for some, according to some.
The report, titled “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide,” described what it called “the corporate machinery supporting Israel’s settler-colonial project of displacement and displacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory.”
The report criticized businesses, including arms manufacturers, tech companies, heavy machinery manufacturers, and financial institutions, for their “complicity” in supporting Israel’s occupation of occupied territory, which allowed Palestinians to be watched and killed.
While political leaders had been avoiding their responsibilities, according to the report, “far too many corporate entities have profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid, and now, genocide.”
It demanded that businesses held the international community accountable for their role in Israel’s abuses, and that they be held accountable for their actions in violation of international law.
According to Albanese, “every state and every corporation has a prima facie responsibility to completely abstain or end their relationships with this economic of occupation,” adding that if the corporation had done proper due diligence, it “would have completely and completely disengaged from its entanglement with the Israeli economy.”
According to Albanese, there are businesses and individuals who have profited from the violence, the killing, the maiming, the destruction in Gaza and other areas of the occupied Palestinian territory, speaking to reporters in Geneva after her speech.
She noted that, in stark contrast to the suffering suffered by Palestinians, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange increased by at least 20% in the past nearly 21 months of the conflict.
She said, “One person is enriched, one person is erased.”
“Genocide is obviously profitable for some,” he said.
The Israeli state’s military “backbone”
The military-industrial complex, according to the UN report, serves as Israel’s “economic backbone,” arguing that Israel’s prolonged occupation and repeated military operations had provided testing grounds for cutting-edge military technology, including AI-enabled targeting tools and the F-35 fighter jet program.
Albanese claimed that arms companies had made near-record profits by providing Israel with cutting-edge technology to devastate Gaza with 85 000 tonnes of explosives, which is six times the strength of Hiroshima.
Although Leonardo SpA is the Italian manufacturer Leonardo SpA, the F-35 program is led by Lockheed Martin in the United States, the rest of its components are produced abroad. Elbit Systems and IAI, both of which were involved in the development of drones, are also mentioned in the report.
Additionally, it recognized shipping companies like Denmark’s A P Moller–Maersk for “maintaining a steady flow of US-supplied military equipment” to Israel throughout its war on Gaza as well as Japan’s FANUC Corporation for providing robotic machinery for weapons production lines.
The tech industry was also highlighted in the report, which claimed tech giants like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon had a significant impact on enabling Israel’s mass surveillance systems.
According to the report, US company Palantir Technologies has expanded its support to the Israeli military since the start of the conflict in Gaza, while IBM has also been in charge of training military and intelligence personnel and managing a central database holding Palestinians’ biometric data.
Additionally, it cited heavy machinery manufacturers like Caterpillar Inc. in the US, Hyundai Corp. in South Korea, and Volvo Group of Sweden for providing equipment related to the destruction of Palestinian property.
According to Albanese, an independent expert under the UN’s purview, “What I expose is not a list; it is a system,” and abuses must be addressed.
In her speech, she remarked, “Palestinians are brutalized and watched by weapons and data systems.”
“Colonies spread – financed by banks and insurers, fueled by fossil fuels, and regulated by tourism platforms, supermarket chains, and academic institutions.”
Israel: “groundless” report
Noel White, Ireland’s ambassador to the UN, stated that Albanese’s government was moving forward with legislation that would outlaw the import of goods from settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. delegates in Geneva applauded Albanese’s speech.
According to the Reuters news agency, Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not respond to a request for comment on Albanese’s speech right away.
It called Albanese’s report “legally unsubstantiated, defamatory, and a flagrant abuse of her office” earlier this week.
Israel has disputed the international criminal court of justice’s (ICJ)-mandated accusations of genocide against Gaza, citing its right to self-defense following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, for which numerous genocide experts have confirmed Israel is carrying out.
