UN Special Reporter for Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor proposed the implementation of an armed embargo' against Israel in response to attacks on the Gaza Strip.
"We have to let humanitarian aid get in there and there must also be an arms embargo," Lawlor said of the situation in Gaza, human rights abuses, and steps to take to stop Israeli bombings.
"In my view, any country that sparked this conflict by supplying weapons to Israel must stop doing so, because Israel does not understand its current actions," he said.
Lawlor said he had been closely monitoring the situation in Gaza since October 7 and that there were people who were flagged, trapped and helpless' in Gaza. He thought the situation there was terrible, Gazans were repeatedly asked to go to a safe place and they ended up in Rafah City.
"Now those people are asked to go elsewhere and they don't have a place to go," he said, adding that they also don't have enough food and medicine.
Half the population of Gaza currently lives in Rafah, he said.
"How can you justify the murder of women and mothers who have many children?" he said.
Regarding developments in Rafah, Lawlor said there needed to be certainty about the ceasefire and humanitarian aid should be allowed into Gaza.
"Technically, Israel as a occupation force should not wage war against its occupied territory," Lawlor said.
He highlighted that while the world is aware of what is happening in Gaza, other countries are unable or unwilling to intervene. Lawlor said that stopping funding for UNRWA, the United Nations (UN) agency that deals with Palestinian refugees, is crazy because only UNRWA serves Gazans, schools and hospitals in the Palestinian enclave.
"Investigations on charges against UNRWA are ongoing. The desperate people (Gaza) should not be left behind as victims of inter-state politics," he said.
Israel accused the UNRWA staff of involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. The situation in Gaza is currently being examined by the International Court, and Lawlor stressed that the UN court will decide the situation in Gaza.
"Whether (decision) is genocide or not, but I say there is a risk of genocide (in Gaza)," he said.
He said countries such as the US, UK, and the European Union, which have influence on Israel, have a very important role. They bear great responsibility to stop Israel's war in Gaza
If those countries choose abstain or veto resolutions on the UN Security Council, "For me, it cannot be forgiven," he said.
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