Francesca Albanese addresses the delegates of 30 countries to discuss the ways in which nations can try to end the Israel offensive.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territory said that it was time for nations around the world to take concrete measures to stop Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
Francesca Albanese spoke with the delegates of 30 countries meeting in the Colombian capital, Bogota, Tuesday to discuss the brutal assault of Israel and ways in which the nations can try to stop the offensive in the besieged enclave.
Many participating nations have described the War of Israel against Gaza as a genocide against the Palestinians.
More than 58,000 people have been killed since Israel launched the assault in October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israeli forces have also imposed several total blockages on the territory throughout the war, pushing 2.3 million residents of Gaza on the edge of the famine.
“Each state must immediately examine and suspend all links with the state of Israel … and ensure that its private sector does the same,” said Albanese. “The Israeli economy is structured to maintain the occupation which has now become genocidal.”
Colombia, in South Africa, the talks at the top of the brutal offensive of Israel
The two -day conference organized by Colombia and South Africa is mainly found by developing countries, although Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.
The conference is co -chaired by South Africa and Colombia, which has suspended coal exports last year to Israeli power stations. It includes the participation of the members of the Hague group, a coalition of eight countries which, earlier this year, is committed to reducing military links with Israel and complying with an arrest warrant against the international criminal tribunal against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For decades, the African National Congress Party in southern South Africa compared Israeli policies in Gaza and in the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the severe apartheid regime of the domination of white minorities, which restricted most blacks to the areas called “homeland”, before ending in 1994.
The rally comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel, which include the ban on imports from the illegal Israeli colonies, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials who block a peaceful solution to the conflict.
The Colombian Foreign Vice Minister Mauricio Jaramillo said on Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also includes Qatar and Turkiye, will discuss diplomatic and judicial measures to exercise more pressure on Israel to stop attacks.
The Colombian official described the conduct of Israel in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to international order.
“It’s not just a question of Palestine,” said Jaramillo at a press conference. “It is a question of defending international law and the right to self -determination.”
The comments of special Albanese rapporteur echoed the remarks she made earlier Tuesday addressed to the EU. The Bloc Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Brussels to discuss any measures against Israel.
In a series of messages on X, Albanese wrote that the EU is “legally linked” to suspend its association agreement with Israel, citing its obligations under international law.
Albanese said that the EU is not only Israel’s best trading partner, but also its best investment partner, almost double the size of the United States, and “trade with an economy inextricably linked to occupation, apartheid and genocide is complicity”.
