UN official rejects demanding Hamas free hostages, ‘deflects from IDF atrocities’ in Gaza

Earlier in November, Francesca Albanese said that Israel’s right to defend itself after the October 7th massacre was ‘non-existent.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, in a tweeted response to former State Department official Dennis Ross, claimed that demanding the release of hostages is inappropriate and a mere “deflection” from the “atrocities by the Israeli army in Gaza.”

Dennis Ross, who held crucial roles at the State Department during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton Administrations, tweeted on December 3rd a proposal to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza—returning the hostages.

Ross tweeted, “The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is real. Why not call on Hamas to release all hostages and agree to have its leaders leave Gaza.”

He continued, “They could save Palestinians from paying a further price. Real support for Palestinians should produce such a call. Isn’t it time for that?”

Albanese responded by saying “this sounds like putting the onus to end the carnage in Gaza on the Palestinians, including those being slaughtered in Gaza” and “justifying and deflecting the attention from the atrocities committed by the Israeli army in Gaza.”

Later in the day Francesca Albanese tweeted, “Fellow Europeans, Italians, Germans: after the Holocaust, we should instinctively know that Genocide starts with dehumanizing the Other.”

She continued, “If Israel’s current attack against Palestinians doesn’t prompt our strong reaction, the darkest page of our recent history has taught us nothing.”

Earlier in November, Francesca Albanese said that Israel’s right to defend itself after the October 7th massacre was “non-existent.”

Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, Albanese said, “Israel cannot claim the right of self-defense against a threat that emanates from a territory it occupies, from a territory that is under belligerent occupation.”

Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005 and removed all of its citizens from the area. The Hamas atrocities on October 7th occurred on territory that has been recognized as an integral part of Israel since its founding in 1948.

Albanese did acknowledge that Israel did have a right to respond or prevent the attack, but these activities would be limited to efforts to “establish law and order, to repel the attack, neutralize whomever was carrying out the attacks…not waging war.”