WASHINGTON – Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) urged the Trump administration on Thursday to reverse course and stop enabling a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals representing the global coalition of health care workers, gathered at different locations in Washington, DC, including Capitol Hill, to demand an end to the Israeli war in the besieged enclave.

The group has been meeting monthly with members of Congress to push for a change in the American position on the Palestinian cause. As reports of mass hunger, collapsed hospitals and widespread devastation in Gaza escalate, however, the group said an emergency news conference this week could not wait.

“I’m one of the members of Doctors Against Genocide. It’s a group of health care providers who advocate for Gaza and the Palestinian cause, and right now, today, it was an urgent meeting for us to have a press conference because of the starvation that’s going on in Gaza,” Ashraf Abou El-Ezz, an anesthesiologist from the state of Indiana, told Anadolu.

Abou El-Ezz said the group meets at least once a month in Congress with representatives to try to explain to them the situation in Gaza.

“We do understand that the US is complicit in this kind of starvation and genocide that’s happening, and we are trying to explain to them and to talk to them about changing their position regarding the Palestinian cause,” he said.

Abou El-Ezz urged President Donald Trump to act now.

“Today, my message to President Trump is that to stop the genocide now, not tomorrow. People are dying. Children are starving. Hospitals are destroyed, doctors are being killed, and the situation is getting more and more urgent by the minutes, not by days. And we have to move fast because every day costs hundreds of lives,” he said.

Roxana Samimi, an infectious disease physician, told the Turkish news agency that the group has been denouncing the genocide for almost two years.

She said what is happening in Palestine is “just unacceptable.”

“We’re health care workers. We’re here to heal. And we’re seeing not only our tax dollars going to fund a genocide. We’re seeing doctors abducted. Kids starve and starvation is being weaponized as a tool. We need to really stop funding this genocide today.

“That America needs to be on the right side of history,” she added, as she demanded the Trump administration act now.

“We need to act today. Let the food in. Let aid in. Stop funding the genocide. Stop our money going there … stop right now,” she said.

‘Send bread, not bombs’

Patrick Fadden, a doctor of internal medicine, said the group advocates for stopping the genocide.

Asked about his message to the Trump administration, Fadden said: “I think it’s very clear: Send bread, not bombs.”

“It’s not that they don’t have the resources to feed the starving population in Gaza. It’s just that the resources are … outside the borders, and that would take one signature from … our government to stop that, and to feed … hundreds of thousands of starving Palestinians,” he said.

He told Anadolu that he has not served in Gaza, but he would like to go there.

“I’ve had colleagues that have been over there before the genocide and during the genocide and I think as a physician, we are trained to help those in need … to cure disease, to promote wellness,” said Fadden.

He said there is no food, no water, no electricity, health care is being dismantled, hospitals are being bombed, physicians and health care workers are being targeted and murdered.

“We’re here just to say: ‘Stop, stop.’ Open the borders. Send the bread, not the bombs,” he added.

The group has also protested in front of the Egyptian Embassy, the Israeli Embassy, and in Lafayette Park in front of the White House to raise their voices.

Israel has killed more than 59,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

ANADOLU, 24.5.2025

ANKARA – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Sunday once again accused Israeli authorities of using starvation as a weapon of war against the civilian population of Gaza.

In a statement on X, UNRWA said: “The Israeli Authorities are starving civilians in Gaza. Among them are 1 million children.”

It renewed its urgent call for the lifting of Israel’s ongoing siege, saying: “Lift the siege: allow UNRWA to bring in food and medicines.”

Despite international legal obligations to protect civilians and allow the delivery of aid, Israel has maintained a total siege on Gaza since March 2, bombing convoys, blocking border crossings, and targeting aid distribution points, actions that have been widely condemned as collective punishment and potential war crimes.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, dozens of children have already died from starvation and dehydration, while hundreds of thousands more are at risk due to widespread food insecurity and the collapse of healthcare services.

On Saturday alone, Israeli strikes killed at least 136 Palestinians, including 38 individuals waiting for aid and three children who died from severe malnutrition, Palestinian official sources reported.

Israel has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave, almost collapsed the health system, and created famine-like conditions.

ANADOLU

COPENHAGEN, July 16 – A volcano erupted on Wednesday in southwest Iceland, authorities said, with live media images showing it belched smoke and dramatic flows of glowing hot yellow and orange lava, the latest in a series of outbreaks near the capital in recent years.

Often referred to as a land of ice and fire, the North Atlantic island nation with its many glaciers and volcanoes has now experienced a dozen eruptions since geological systems on its Reykjanes peninsula reactivated in 2021.

Magma forced through the earth’s crust opened a massive fissure of length between 700 m and 1,000 m (0.4 miles and 0.6 miles), Iceland’s meteorological office said, with the first signs of the eruption giving scant warning.

“(It does) not threaten any infrastructure at this time,” the office said in a statement. “Based on GPS measurements and deformation signals, it is likely that this was a relatively small eruption.”

Flights at Keflavik airport in the capital of Reykjavik were not affected, its web page showed.

Public broadcaster RUV said people had been evacuated from the Blue Lagoon, a luxury geothermal spa resort, and the nearby town of Grindavik, citing police.

Grindavik, home to nearly 4,000 before an evacuation order in 2023, has stayed mostly deserted since, for fear of the periodic threat from lava flows and related earthquakes.

The Reykjanes eruptions have not yet posed a threat to Reykjavik, nor ejected large volumes of ash into the stratosphere, so air traffic has not been disrupted.

Experts have said the eruptions in the area could recur for decades, or even centuries.

The fissure eruptions, as the outbreaks are known, are characterised by lava flows emerging from long cracks, rather than from a central crater.

REUTERS

GENEVA, July 15 – One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency said on Tuesday.

“Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March,” UNRWA’s Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.

Since January 2024, UNRWA said it had screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip.

“One nurse that we spoke to told us that in the past, he only saw these cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries,” Touma said.

“Medicine, nutrition supplies, hygiene material, fuel are all rapidly running out,” Touma said.

On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume. However, UNRWA continues to be banned from bringing aid into the enclave.

COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that it has helped facilitate 67,000 food trucks to enter Gaza, delivering 1.5 million tons of food, including infant formula and baby food.

It said that about 2,000 tons of baby food have been brought into Gaza through the crossings in recent weeks, following requests by international aid organizations.

Israel and the United States have accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing from U.N.-led aid operations – which Hamas denies. They have instead set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, using private U.S. security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, which the U.N. has refused to work with.

On Monday, UNICEF said that last month more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 1,000 children with severe, acute malnutrition. It said it was an increase for the fourth month in a row.

REUTERS

GENEVA, July 11 – The U.N. rights office said on Friday it had recorded at least 798 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near convoys run by other relief groups.

The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a U.N.-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians trying to reach the GHF’s aid hubs in zones where Israeli forces operate, the United Nations has called its aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

“(From May 27) up until the seventh of July, we’ve recorded 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,” U.N. rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing in Geneva.

The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, told Reuters the U.N. figures were “false and misleading”. It denies that deadly incidents have occurred at its sites.

“The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid site have been linked to U.N. convoys,” a GHF spokesperson said.

“Ultimately, the solution is more aid. If the U.N. (and) other humanitarian groups would collaborate with us, we could end or significantly reduce these violent incidents.”

The Israeli army told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimise friction between Palestinians and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.

GUNSHOT WOUNDS

The OHCHR said it based its figures on sources such as information from hospitals in Gaza, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground.

Most of the injuries to Palestinians in the vicinity of aid distribution hubs recorded by the OHCHR since May 27 were gunshot wounds, Shamdasani said.

“We’ve raised concerns about atrocity crimes having been committed and the risk of further atrocity crimes being committed where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food,” she said.

After the GHF assertion that the OHCHR figures are false and misleading, Shamdasani said: “It is not helpful to issue blanket dismissals of our concerns – what is needed is investigations into why people are being killed while trying to access aid.”

REUTERS

Israeli media reported on Thursday the discovery of a dead reserve soldier in the illegal settlement neighborhood of Har Homa in occupied al-Quds. The incident comes amid a spike in suicides among Israeli occupation soldiers since the beginning of the war on Gaza in October 2023.

According to Haaretz, the number of suicides in the Israeli occupation forces has risen to unprecedented levels since the war began.

The report revealed that between October 7 and the end of 2023, seven soldiers took their own lives, while 21 suicides were recorded in 2024. Since the start of 2025, approximately 14 soldiers have reportedly died by suicide.

Occupation forces withholding full figures

Despite the rising trend, the Israeli occupation forces has refused to disclose the official number of suicides for the current year, stating it will release a full report only at the end of 2025.

The secrecy has raised questions about transparency within the military command, particularly as psychological trauma among troops continues to escalate.

Over the weekend, another occupation soldier reportedly took his own life after suffering from severe psychological distress following his deployment in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

The war’s mental health toll has become a critical issue for the Israeli regime, especially as reports indicate a severe manpower shortage in the ranks.

PTSD-affected soldiers recalled for service

As reported by Haaretz, the Israeli military has begun enlisting reservists suffering from trauma and other psychological conditions, even if they are currently undergoing treatment.

One commander told the newspaper, “Because our soldiers are not committed to fighting, we are forced to recruit individuals who are not in a stable mental state,” adding, “We fight with what we have, even if we are certain their psychological conditions are unstable.”

According to Haaretz, two recently recalled soldiers committed suicide, further intensifying scrutiny of the military’s handling of mental health issues.

The total number of Israeli soldier suicides since October 7, 2023, has reportedly reached at least 35 by the end of 2024. Informed sources noted that the military has buried several soldiers who died by suicide without holding military funerals or issuing official statements.

Compliance rates inflated, say Israeli officers

One officer told Haaretz that the military has recently resorted to pressuring soldiers to engage in combat but is facing difficulties in mobilizing them for service.

The report also revealed manipulation in the published compliance rates, with both officers and soldiers confirming that the official figures do not accurately represent the true level of participation among reservists.

Security sources stressed to the newspaper that the Israeli military needs to increase its troop numbers fourfold in order to control key points in the Gaza Strip, amid mounting security challenges.

AL MAYADEEN, 10.7.2025

NEZUK, BELGRADE, Bosnia and Herzegovina – More than 6,000 people set off Tuesday from Nezuk near Sapna on an annual Peace March to Srebrenica to honor thousands of Bosniak men and boys killed during the genocide on July 11, 1995.

Participants will walk the 100-kilometer (62-mile) route toward Potocari for the next three days, following the path Bosniaks took 30 years ago in a desperate attempt to reach the free territories in Tuzla or Kladanj.

Survivors are leading this year’s march.

Marchers are expected to arrive in Potocari on July 10, ahead of a collective funeral the next day at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center, where the remains of seven newly identified genocide victims will be laid to rest.

This is the 21st Peace March, marking the 30th anniversary of the genocide in the UN-declared “safe zone” of Srebrenica.

For survivors, the march is a way to process trauma and a responsibility to share their stories with younger generations.

Among participants is Ademir Mesic, joining the march for the 14th time, who said it is difficult each year to walk the path and listen to what survivors endured.

“It is different to hear testimonies from survivors while walking the same route they took,” he said. “The message is that it should never happen again.”

Teens like Edin Djogaz, 16, from Tuzla and Ajna Trapo, 17, from Travnik, also joined the march to honor the victims and preserve the memory of the genocide.

“While walking the path where people were killed, many thoughts cross your mind,” said Trapo.

Hana Malkic, 17, is participating for the first time. “I believe this is the least we can do.”

A memorial of remembrance and resistance to denial

The Peace March, held annually in July, is to preserve the culture of remembrance of the genocide and to counter denial and revisionism.

Participants walk 30 kilometers daily, with some parts of the route demanding significant physical endurance.

During the genocide in July 1995, Bosniaks fled along the route in the opposite direction to escape the attack by Serb forces on the UN-protected enclave.

Seven victims to be buried July 11

The remains of seven victims, including two 19-year-old boys, will be buried July 11. The victims were killed by Bosnian Serb forces and their allies during the genocide and were later found in mass graves in locations, including Liplje, Baljkovica, Suljici and Kamenicko Hill.

Many of the remains are incomplete, with some families preparing to bury only a few bones of their loved ones. So far, 6,765 victims have been buried at the memorial cemetery in Potocari, while around 250 have been buried in other cemeteries at the families’ request.

More than 1,000 victims of the genocide are still missing.

Trials and convictions

International and local courts have sentenced 54 individuals to a total of 781 years in prison and five life sentences for genocide, crimes against humanity and other crimes committed in Srebrenica in July 1995.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague sentenced 18 individuals, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, to life in prison for genocide and related crimes.

Bosnia’s state court sentenced 27 people to a total of 446 years in prison, while Serbia has convicted five individuals for crimes in Srebrenica, including four former “Scorpions” members. Croatia has sentenced two former “Scorpions” members to 15 years each.

Ten suspects remain at large and are currently unavailable to Bosnia’s judiciary.

ANADOLU

Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, the top spokesperson for Iran’s Armed Forces, declared Monday evening that the United States was the “primary party responsible for the aggression” that targeted Iran.

In an exclusive interview for Al Mayadeen, Shekarchi stated that Iran did not initiate the war but responded decisively within 12 days of confrontation with devastating strikes that inflicted “significant damage” on its adversaries.

He emphasized that the ceasefire was “imposed on the adversaries” after they endured powerful Iranian retaliatory operations, noting that it was Iran who launched the last missiles and drones before the cessation of confrontations.

Heavy losses and media censorship

Shekarchi revealed that numerous Israeli military, security, and research centers were completely destroyed. He also reported severe damage to US forces at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which he referred to as a “friendly country”.

He underscored that most of the losses sustained by the enemy are under a heavy media blackout. “We do not trust what the US and the Zionist entity publish about the damage,” he said.

The Iranian brigadier general challenged the credibility of Western narratives, saying, “If the enemies were truly democratic and honest, let them reveal their losses to the world.” He noted that Iranian drones and missiles breached the most advanced air defenses and that “the airspace of the Zionist entity was exposed to us.”

US, Israeli bases in West Asia within range of Iranian fire

He affirmed that many of the Iranian strikes hit “strategic” targets, noting that Tehran still possesses an extensive bank of additional strategic targets.

Shekarchi said the enemy was “demoralized” by the nature of the targets struck, to the point where its military forces, not settlers, had to retreat to shelters.

He also disclosed that Iranian forces had downed many US and Israeli drones, proving Iran’s capability to defend its vast geography.

Iran is “determined to respond with a devastating force to any new aggression attempt,” Shekarchi warned, asserting that US and Israeli bases in West Asia are within range of Iranian fire.

Iran to ‘cross all red lines’ in the event of any aggression

He warned the US and “Israel” and their backers against violating the ceasefire, stressing that any mistake would be met with a “devastating” response.

Shekarchi made it clear that Iran’s retaliation “would be even more destructive than before,” using new, unexpected military tactics.

He said that his country does not seek to expand the circle of war but emphasized that Iran’s response would be “powerful and comprehensive, encompassing the entire region.”

“In the event of any mistake or aggression, we will cross all red lines,” the Iranian brigadier general underlined.

Shekarchi reaffirmed Iran’s peaceful relations with its neighbors, pointing out that Tehran is “trying to keep any harm away from the region, which US President Donald Trump is driving into tension.”

‘Advanced and destructive military power’

On Iran’s defense capabilities, Shekarchi said the nation possesses “advanced and destructive military power,” produces its weapons independently, updates them rapidly, and is not afraid of engaging in a prolonged confrontation.

“Our scientists and engineers can manufacture state-of-the-art arms without foreign support,” he asserted, promising that Iran’s arsenal can change the outcome of any conflict.

Shekarchi also vowed that the US would “taste the bitterness” of Iran’s response to any aggression.

Brigadier General Shekarchi clarified that the Iranian Armed Forces “use weapons to respond proportionately to the nature of the aggression,” adding, “We have many surprises that you will see on the ground.”

He noted that only a fraction of Iran’s armed forces have participated in the current confrontation, with the deployment of the Quds Force, naval units, and Basij contingent depending on the nature of aggression.

The Iranian armed forces “have used their capabilities wisely in this war,” he affirmed.

‘Israel’ sought US support, used Palestinian civilians as shields

Shekarchi also accused “Israel” of using Palestinian civilians as human shields and said it cannot confront Iran alone, hence its plea for US support. He noted that many countries, especially Western, rushed to arm “Israel” during and after the confrontation.

Despite this support, Shekarchi asserted that the Israeli forces could not match Iran’s military, emphasizing that Iran’s Armed Forces are drawn from its people, not mercenaries.

Call to Islamic nations

Shekarchi called on Islamic nations to cut ties with “Israel” if they cannot confront it directly. “All Muslims should take part in confronting this entity, as it will eventually target them too,” he said, urging West Asian countries to support the Resistance in Gaza and beyond.

No surrender, no retreat

Shekarchi noted that all segments and sects of the Iranian people stood united behind the military during the recent aggression, while “all West Asian countries hailed the devastating Iranian strikes” that targeted” Israel” and US forces.

He made it clear that any talk of surrender or retreat is not found in Iran’s doctrine, reiterating that any aggression will be met with unforgettable blows

Elsewhere, the Iranian brigadier general emphasized that US threats target only those who bow before Washington and reaffirmed that Hezbollah is an independent force defending its homeland, just like other Resistance movements supported by Iran throughout the region.

AL MAYADEEN

SINJIL, West Bank, July 4 – A five-metre-high metal fence slices across the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Heavy steel gates and roadblocks seal off all but a single route in and out of the town, watched over by Israeli soldiers at guard posts.

“Sinjil is now a big prison,” said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven, watching on in resignation as workers erected the fence through the middle of the nursery on the edge of the town where he planted trees for sale, his sole source of income.

“Of course, we’re now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost,” he said. “In the end, they cut off our livelihood.”

Walls and checkpoints erected by Israeli forces have long been a part of day-to-day life for the nearly 3 million Palestinian residents of the West Bank. But many now say that a dramatic increase in such barriers since the start of the war in Gaza has put towns and villages in a state of permanent siege.

The fence around Sinjil is a particularly stark example of barriers that have sprung up across the territory, becoming an overwhelming feature of daily life. The Israeli military says it erected it to protect the nearby Ramallah-Nablus highway.

“In light of the recurring terror incidents in this area, it was decided to place a fence in order to prevent stone-throwing at a main route and repeated disturbances of public order, thereby safeguarding the security of civilians in the region,” it said in a statement.

Because residents are still permitted to enter and exit through the single remaining entrance, the policy is deemed to allow “free access” to the town, the military said.

CUT OFF FROM LAND

The people who live there now have to walk or drive through narrow, winding streets to the sole allowed entry point. Some cross road closures on foot to reach cars on the other side.

Those who once earned their livelihoods in the surrounding land are effectively cut off, said Bahaa Foqaa, the deputy mayor. He said the fence had enclosed 8,000 residents inside barely 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of surrounding land which they privately own.

“This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people.”

Israel says its fences and barriers in the West Bank are necessary to protect Jewish settlers who have moved there since Israel captured the territory in a 1967 war.

Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council which governs the 47 Israeli settlements in the part of the West Bank where Sinjil is located, said the town’s fence was needed because its residents had thrown stones and molotov cocktails at cars on the nearby highway, solely because the occupants were Jewish.

“A carte blanche lifting of the restrictions on Arab Palestinians would encourage the mass murder of Jews,” he told Reuters.

Some 700,000 Israelis now reside in territory Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider such communities a violation of the Geneva Conventions which ban settling civilians on occupied land; Israel says the settlements are lawful and justified by historic and biblical Jewish ties to the land.

After decades during which Israel paid lip-service to the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, the far-right Israeli government now includes prominent settler activists who openly proclaim their aim to annex the entire West Bank.

HALF OUR LIFE IS ON THE ROADS

Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank immediately after Hamas’ surprise attack in October 2023, which precipitated war that has devastated the other main Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip.

Overnight, mounds of earth and heavy boulders were placed on roads. Then heavy metal gates, usually painted yellow or orange, were installed and locked by the military at entrances to Palestinian communities, often leading to roads also used by settlers.

The military established new permanent checkpoints. So-called flying checkpoints, set up suddenly and without warning, became more frequent.

Sana Alwan, 52, who lives in Sinjil and works as a personal trainer, said what was once a short drive to reach Ramallah can now take as long as three hours each way, with no way of knowing at the start of the day how long she will be stuck at checkpoints. Work has slowed because she can no longer promise clients she can reach them.

“Half of our life is on the roads,” she said.

While the West Bank has largely been spared the all-out assault waged in Gaza, life has grown increasingly precarious. A ban on entering Israel for work abruptly cut off the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers. At the start of this year, tens of thousands of West Bank residents were displaced by an Israeli crackdown on militants in Jenin in the north.

Mohammad Jammous, 34, who grew up in Jericho and lives in Ramallah, used to see his family almost every week. With the hour-long drive now typically stretching to several hours each way, he says he is now usually able to visit only once a month.

The Israeli military said its forces operate in a “complex security reality”, and checkpoints must be regularly relocated and set up at new locations to monitor movement and respond to threats originating from Palestinian communities.

Officials in the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, suspect that the stifling impact on the economy and ordinary life is intentional.
They say it could backfire against Israel by driving more youths to sympathise with militants.

“They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told reporters last month.

REUTERS

GENEVA – Israel is responsible for “one of the cruelest genocides in modern history,” the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory said on Thursday, accusing Tel Aviv of weaponizing Gaza as a testing ground and calling for sweeping international action, including a full international arms embargo and the suspension of trade and investment ties.

“The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic,” Francesca Albanese told the UN Human Rights Council, presenting her latest report. “In Gaza, Palestinians continue to endure suffering beyond imagination. Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history.”

Albanese said official figures count over 200,000 Palestinians killed or injured, but leading health experts estimate “the true toll is far higher.” She denounced the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – Israel’s new aid mechanism in Gaza, with hundreds of associated deaths to date – as “a death trap – engineered to kill or force the flight of a starved, bombarded, emaciated population marked for.”

Profits from genocide

She grimly highlighted the economic gains made during the war, noting that in the past 20 months, arms companies have reaped huge profits by supplying Israel with weapons used to bombard Gaza.

“Arms companies have turned near-record profits by equipping Israel with cutting-edge weaponry to unleash 85,000 tons of explosives – six times the power of Hiroshima – to destroy Gaza,” she said.

The report also pointed to 213% gains on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since October 2023, describing a stark contrast: “One people enriched, one people erased.”

Accusing Israel of using the war to “test new weapons, customized surveillance, lethal drones, (and) radar systems,” Albanese warned that Palestine’s defenselessness had made it “an ideal laboratory for the Israeli military-industrial complex.”

She named 48 corporate actors, including arms manufacturers, banks, tech companies, energy giants, and academic institutions, alleging that they are directly linked to a broader “economy of occupation” sustaining the Israeli state’s actions.

Among the most important firms mentioned in the report are Amazon, Microsoft, BNP Paribas, Booking, and Korean HD Hyundai, according to her report.

“Weapons and data systems brutalize and surveil Palestinians,” she said. “Colonies spread –financed by banks and insurers, powered by fossil fuels, and normalized by tourism platforms, supermarket chains, and academic institutions.”

Later in a press briefing in Geneva, Albanese said she had formally notified all companies named in her report, sharing with them “the facts that I found in violation of international law.”

She emphasized that her work went “beyond what has been done in other similar cases,” explaining: “For each of them, I have provided a detailed analysis, a case by case legal analysis, so where I found their nonconformity with international law translating into violation of the right of self-determination, other human rights violations and even war crimes or crimes against humanity, and to an extent, in which case it could be embroiled in the crime of genocide.”

According to Albanese, 18 companies responded to her findings, while the others did not. Of these 18, she said that “only a small number” engaged with her in good faith, while the rest denied their wrongdoings.

Referring to those in denial, she said: “They don’t understand international law clearly. They think that international law is there to make excuses.”

‘Responsibility to abstain’ or cut ties with ‘economy of occupation’

Under international law, she said, even a minimal connection to this system carries clear responsibility. “There is a prima facie responsibility on every state and corporate entity to completely abstain from or end their relationships with this economy of occupation.”

In a direct appeal to UN member states, Albanese called for bold steps: “Member states must impose a full arms embargo on Israel, suspend all trade agreements and investment relations, and enforce accountability, ensuring that corporate entities face legal consequences for their involvement in serious violations of international law.”

She also called on businesses to act, stressing: “Corporate entities must urgently cease all business activities and terminate relationships directly linked with, contributing to, and causing human rights violations and international crimes against the Palestinian people.”

Albanese said she no longer believed ignorance or ideology were sufficient explanations for global inaction. “In the face of genocide – so visible, so livestreamed – these explanations fall short.”

She concluded with a call for civil society to play its part, saying: “Trade unions, lawyers, civil society groups, and ordinary citizens should encourage such behavioral change from the side of businesses and governments by pressing for boycotts, divestments, sanctions, and accountability. What comes next depends on all of us.”

ANADOLU, 3.7.2025