UN Special Rapporteur calls for sanctions on Israel

The special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories calls upon the international community to impose sanctions on Israel until the regime complies with an order by the United Nations’ top court to immediately

“Israel intensified its attacks on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after the International Court of Justice ordered it to stop its operation in the city,” Francesca Albanese wrote in a post published on her X account on Saturday.

She added, “The news I receive from the people besieged in the city of Rafah is horrific. Israel will not stop this madness until we make it stop.”

Albanese stressed the need for imposing sanctions on Israel until it complies with ICJ's ruling that ordered Israel to halt its military assault on the city of Rafah.

“Member states must impose sanctions on Israel, ban the provision of weapons to it, and suspend political and diplomatic relations with it, until it stops its attack,” the top UN official pointed out.

• Hamas welcomes ICJ order for Israel to halt Rafah offensive

The remarks come a day after the International Court of Justice said Israel must "immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

In early May, Israel carried out ground incursions into the refugee-packed city of Rafah in defiance of global warnings, forcing more than 800,000 people “to flee”, according to UN figures.

The ICJ, widely known as the World Court, also ordered the Israeli regime to open the Rafah crossing to ensure "unhindered" access to humanitarian aid.

The order, was adopted by the panel of 15 international judges in a 13-2 vote, opposed only by judges from Uganda and Israel itself.

Israel launched its atrocious onslaught against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship since Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm, against the usurping regime on October 7.

At least 35,903 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and another 80,420 individuals have sustained injuries. More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced during the war as well.