Israel had strong words against the United Nations over the weekend after the UN Human Rights
Council published an article by various so-called “UN experts” calling for an arms embargo against Israel, article which also barely referenced Hamas. The embargo call comes as the United Nations has come been under intense scrutiny for their own failure to curb – or in some cases directly participate in –
Hamas terrorist activity.
In a post to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote in response to the embargo call: “Since the October 7 massacre, the @UN has cooperated with Hamas terrorists and is
trying to undermine Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens. Ignoring the war crimes, sexual crimes
and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas terrorists constitutes a stain that cannot be erased
on the UN as an organization and personally on the UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres himself.”
The UN article, published to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website on Friday, cites a number of “UN experts” who are members of the UN Human Rights Council’s
voluntary independent monitoring group. These “experts” allege in the article that Israel is “likely” to
violate international humanitarian law with weapons transferred to them by other nations, and
therefore such weapons provisions should stop.
Among the experts behind the report is a known anti-Israel terrorist sympathizer, Special Rapporteur for
the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese. The Times of Israel cited a long list of controversial
statements from Albanese over the years, including anti-Semitic comments about the “Jewish lobby”
controlling the United States and a post to X that indicated justification for Hamas massacring Israelis on
October 7 by noting that attack was “in response to Israel’s oppression.”
The report published to the UN OHCHR website praised a February Dutch court order for the
Netherlands to stop exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, as well as moves by Belgium, Italy,
Spain and Japan’s Itochu Corporation to cease arms exports to Israel. They also highlighted the
European Union’s discouragement of arms transfers to Israel.
The article, which repeatedly lists allegations against Israel without context, makes no mention of
Hamas’ use of human shields and only briefly references “grave violations of international law” that
include taking hostages and “indiscriminate rocket fire” by Hamas. No specific mention is made of the
slaughter of Israeli civilians nor of the number of Israelis murdered or kidnapped.
The UN-promoted arms embargo report comes as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees (UNWRA) has been exposed in media reports as not only failing to report Hamas’ building a
facility under the UNWRA Gaza headquarters and using it as a de facto human shield, but actually for
having members of UNWRA participate in the October 7 crimes against Israel. These reports include
articles by The Times of Israel and The Washington Post.
“No one in @UNRWA can claim “I did not know” when your workers murdered, raped and kidnapped
Israelis! We cannot turn a blind eye to UNRWA’s hypocrisy any longer,” Director of the Digital Diplomacy
Bureau in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amb. David Saranga posted to X on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant emphasized in a call with his American counterpart on
Thursday that Israel is committed to acting according to international humanitarian law. According to a
recap of Gallant’s call with United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Gallant said, “The IDF is
operating professionally, in a complex environment against a brutal terrorist organization that embeds
its military infrastructure and operatives among the civilian population and sensitive civilian institutions
such as hospitals.
“We have successfully dismantled the Khan Younis Hamas brigade. Our operations in Khan Younis reflect
our policy since the start of the war – working precisely, distinguishing between terrorists and civilians,
and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid despite numerous threats.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, February 25, 2024)