The UN special rapporteur for Palestinians issued a scathing rebuke against Israel on Monday for denying her entry to the country, saying it is the latest instance of barring UN special rapporteurs since 2008 and an attempt to deflect attention from the escalation of atrocities in Gaza, Anadolu News Agency said.
Francesca Albanese’s statement came amid reports of intensified violence in Gaza, particularly in the southern city of Rafah, where civilians have sought refuge in supposedly safe areas, only to come under devastating bombings, the report said.
ANSA, the Italian news agency said the Italian academic and international lawyer Francesca Albanese said after Israel denied her entry to the country that Israel's "atrocities" were reaching a new level of horror with the bombing of people in the 'safe areas' of Rafah, the southern Gaza city that is the last haven for Palestinians there, where Hamas says over 28,000 people have been killed.
The 47-year-old from Avellino near Naples said on X: "Israel's "denying me entry" is not news: Israel has denied entry to ALL Special Rapporteurs/oPt since 2008! "This must not become a distraction from Israel's atrocities in Gaza, which are taking a new level of horror with the bombing of people in 'safe areas' in #Rafah." The Israeli foreign and interior ministries earlier said the ban on entry was linked to "her outrageous assertions that the victims of the October 7 massacre were not killed for being Jewish but in response to Israeli oppression".