A United Nations human rights expert called on Saturday for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israeli forces and warned of massive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
“The situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel has reached its peak,” said Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, according to a press release.
“The United Nations and its member states must redouble their efforts to broker an immediate ceasefire between the parties before we reach a point of no return,” Albanese said. “The international community has a responsibility to prevent atrocities and protect populations from them. The responsibility for international crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces and Hamas must also be punished immediately.”
The press release said more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed since last Saturday, “including at least 600 children.” It also said over 423,000 people had been “displaced as a result of Israeli attacks.”
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The release comes a day after Israel ordered about a million Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate to the southern part of the territory. The UN warned that moving so many people with a 24-hour notice would be catastrophic. The area is also experiencing power outages and Israel has said it will not allow supplies to the area until hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are released.
“There is a great danger that what we are witnessing could be a repeat of the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 Naksa, but on a larger scale. “The international community must do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again,” Albanese said.
The Nakba, according to the press release, “is the name given to the events of 1947-1949, when over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and lands during the hostilities that led to the creation of the State of Israel.” The Naksa, a similar event in the 1967, “led to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip” and “displaced 350,000 Palestinians,” the press release said.
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