UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese says Israel has a license to torture Palestinians.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivered a scathing indictment of international complicity in Israeli atrocities.

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Al Jazeera

She declared that Israel 'has effectively been given a license to torture Palestinians' during her report presentation at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Al Jazeera

Albanese presented evidence of what she termed the 'ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people,' documenting Israel's widespread and systematic use of torture.

She directly accused governments of enabling these abuses, stating that Israel's impunity stems from the fact that 'most of your governments, your ministers, have allowed it.'

The rapporteur characterized this systematic abuse as having become 'state policy' since October 2023, describing a system that is 'socially produced, politically defended and publicly normalized.'

Albanese's report revealed alarming statistics documenting the scale of Israeli detention and torture practices between October 2023 and January 2026.

According to the findings, Israeli forces arrested more than 18,500 Palestinians, including children, with nearly 100 dying in custody and about 4,000 remaining forcibly disappeared.

Anadolu Ajansı

Thousands have been detained without charge and held in inhuman conditions, among them doctors, journalists, and humanitarian workers who were specifically targeted.

The report characterized the detention system as part of a broader pattern of atrocity crimes, stating that 'since October 2023, torture has effectively become state policy.'

This systematic approach to detention represents a calculated strategy of collective punishment and intimidation against the Palestinian population.

Beyond detention centers, Albanese described a comprehensive 'torturous environment' imposed across the occupied Palestinian territory as part of the ongoing Gaza genocide.

“The world has granted Israel 'a permit to torture the Palestinians,' UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese said on Monday, February 23, in Geneva, Switzerland”

Radio France Internationale

Her report documented the systematic destruction of homes, hospitals, and infrastructure, forced displacement of entire populations, and the deliberate starvation of civilians as integral components of this strategy.

Albanese presented these actions not as isolated incidents but as evidence of a coordinated campaign targeting 'the totality of the Palestinian people across the totality of the occupied land through a totality of criminal conduct.'

She characterized the situation in stark terms, concluding that 'genocide has become the ultimate form of torture: continuous, generational and collective,'

warning that the world's response would be 'a test of our collective legal and moral responsibility.'

Israel swiftly rejected Albanese's report and its author, launching a fierce counterattack through its Geneva mission.

In a statement issued Monday, Israel dismissed Albanese as 'not a promoter of human rights' but rather 'an agent of chaos,' characterizing her findings as 'nothing but a politically-charged, activist rant.'

The Killeen Daily Herald

The Israeli mission further accused her of 'advocating dangerous extremist narratives to undermine the very existence of the State of Israel.'

These attacks reflect a pattern of sustained criticism against Albanese, who has long faced accusations of anti-Semitism and repeated demands for her removal from the role.

Despite these efforts to discredit her work, Albanese emphasized that as a special rapporteur appointed by the Human Rights Council, she serves as an independent expert and does not speak on behalf of the United Nations itself.

Albanese issued urgent warnings about proposed Israeli legislation that would introduce the death penalty for Palestinian detainees, describing it as 'yet another dangerous escalation' in the systematic abuses.

“Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday that Israel has turned torture into "state policy," alleging a pattern of systematic abuse so pervasive it amounts to "collective vengeance and destructive intent”

Türkiye Today

She called for immediate investigations into Israeli officials, specifically naming Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, and Israel Katz, and demanded arrest warrants where warranted.

Türkiye Today

The rapporteur's comprehensive report represents a damning assessment of Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories, documenting what she describes as systematic torture, widespread detention, and the creation of conditions amounting to genocide.

Her presentation serves as both a legal documentation of atrocities and a moral challenge to the international community to confront what she has identified as ongoing crimes against humanity.