The United Nations' top official for Palestinian rights, Francesca Albanese, said Israel is trying to make Gaza City uninhabitable during its offensive on the largest urban area in the enclave, while also endangering the lives of Israeli hostages.
"Israel is bombing using unconventional weapons... trying to forcibly evacuate Palestinians. Why? This is the last part of Gaza that needs to be made uninhabitable before the ethnic cleansing of that part of the country continues," Albanese told reporters in Geneva, as reported by Reuters.
Israel's permanent mission to the UN rejected Albaneza's comments.
"Her numerous statements have demonstrated a willingness to go to extremes in delegitimizing the State of Israel," the Mission said in a statement.
"According to her, Hamas does not entrench itself in civilian infrastructure, does not cynically use civilians as human shields, and, in general, does not actually exist," the statement added.
Israel claims that the offensive to take control of Gaza City is part of a plan to defeat the Palestinian militant group Hamas once and for all, and has warned civilians to head south to a designated humanitarian zone.
However, the UN and numerous countries claim that such tactics amount to forced mass displacement and that conditions in the humanitarian zone are dire, with food shortages.
Italian lawyer Albanese serves as the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.
"The current offensive aimed at capturing the last remaining part of Gaza will not only devastate the Palestinians, but will also endanger the remaining Israeli hostages," Albanese said.
She accused Israel of genocide and said that the international community was also complicit.
The nearly two-year campaign in the Palestinian enclave has killed more than 64.000 people, according to local authorities.
Some human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have also accused Israel of genocide, but not the United Nations itself. UN officials have previously said that it is up to international courts to determine whether genocide has occurred.
Israel rejects the accusation, citing the right to self-defense following an attack by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israeli figures, 1.200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken.
In July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Albanese would be placed on a US sanctions list for her actions, which he described as inciting illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis before the International Criminal Court.
Albanese said her attempts to travel to New York this month to present her report to the UN General Assembly are not looking promising.
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