UN Special Reporter: Israel's Economy Designed To Support Population Turns Genocide

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) Special Reporter for Gaza and the West Bank, banyak Albanese, said it was time for countries around the world to take concrete action to stop what he called "genocide" in Gaza.

Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in the Colombian capital to discuss the Israeli-Hamas war and ways that countries could do to stop Israeli military attacks on the region.

Many countries that took part in the conference talks described the violence as genocide against Palestine.

"Every country must immediately review and suspend all relations with the State of Israel ... and ensure its private sector does the same," Albanese said, quoted from AP.

"Israel's economy is designed to shore up the occupation which has now turned into genocide," he continued.

The two-day conference organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa was largely attended by developing countries, although the governments of Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.

Israel firmly rejects allegations of genocide and calls it "anisemite" and "bloody slander".

Analysts say it is unclear whether the conference's participating countries had sufficient influence on Israel to force it to change its policy in Gaza, where more than 58,000 people have died in Israeli military operations following Hamas' deadly attack on Israel in 2023.

"The United States has so far failed to influence Israel's behavior ... so it's really naive to think that this group of countries could affect Netanyahu's (Israeli Prime Minister) behavior or towards the Israeli government," said a professor of international relations at the University of Los Andes, Bogota, Sandra Borda.

However, Sandra Borda said that this conference would allow several countries in the southern hemisphere to clarify their position on the conflict and voice their opinion.

The conference was jointly chaired by the South African and Colombian governments, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants.

The conference also includes members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight countries that earlier this year pledged to cut ties between the military and Israel and comply with an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.