UN rapporteur calls on all to ‘wake up’ regarding Gaza

By Merve Berker

The UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine on Wednesday called on people from all over the world to “wake up” regarding the atrocities in Gaza.

“Only a deep-seated dehumanization of Palestinians in Gaza would allow any Government to see gravely injured children as a security threat and leaving them to die,” Francesca Albanese said on X.

“German people, fellow Europeans, fellow humans -please, wake up,” she urged.

Her statement came after it was reported that German doctors arranged the evacuation of 32 severely injured children from Gaza, but the government has delayed it for months, not providing visas for their family members over alleged security concerns.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.