“The announcement should not serve as a detour from the situation in Gaza,” the expert stated recalling Tel Aviv’s continued refusals for visits by those in that position.

“Israel claims that the ban is due to my comments about the context in which the Hamas attacks took place on October 7. My comments stemmed from President Macron’s description of the attacks as ‘the greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century,” Albanese said.

The UN special rapporteur reiterated her “steadfast and consistent” condemnation of what she described as heinous war crimes. “I continue to express my sorrow and solidarity with victims, including the hostages still being held captive, and with Jewish communities around the world. I further call for accountability for those crimes.”

Albanese, however, agreed with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on acknowledging “that Hamas attacks did not occur in a vacuum.”

The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation, the authority remarked.

The rapporteur cited academic arguments that appealing to the memory of the Holocaust darkens understanding of the anti-Semitism facing Jews nowadays, and dangerously misrepresents the causes of violence in the conflict.

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