A UN expert who said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel had committed new “acts of genocide” in Gaza said on Wednesday he had received “threats” but insisted he did not want to resign, AFP reported.

“I have been under constant attack since the beginning of my mandate” in 2022, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said at a press conference.

“I’m not saying it’s nice” and “sometimes I get threats, but so far they haven’t required additional precautions,” said the expert, whose latest report was published on Monday.

Israel barred him from entering the country after he made remarks that Israeli authorities deny the October 7 Hamas attack as “anti-Semitic,” and pro-Israel NGOs called for his resignation.

On Tuesday, a large number of countries, including Arab and Muslim countries as well as Latin America, backed her, but she has been at the center of controversy and some observers say her statements to the media are sometimes too harsh.

The expert, who is authorized by the Human Rights Council but does not speak on behalf of the organization, said that she is under “pressure” but that it does not change anything about her work: “Of course it annoys me, but it also makes me not give in anymore.” .

“I may at some point decide to retire simply because I also have a private life that I’d like to enjoy, but it won’t be because I’ve been demonized or mistreated,” Albanese said.

It requires the presence of international security forces

Israel said its report was part of a “campaign to undermine the very establishment of the Jewish state,” while the United States said it had “no reason to believe that Israel committed acts of genocide in Gaza.”

On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stressed that his country “has long opposed” the very existence of the rapporteur’s mandate, which he believes is “counterproductive.”

As for Ms. Albanese, “I can’t help but think of the anti-Semitic comments she’s made in the past,” he said.

In Geneva, the expert emphasized that she “does not question the existence of the state of Israel,” but that she “is part of a movement that wants to end apartheid,” adding that she also “condemns” Hamas.

An unprecedented attack by a Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli territory on October 7 triggered an Israeli ground and air offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip, where the population is on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.

Ms Albanese is calling for an “international protective presence” and measures against Israel, including economic sanctions and an arms embargo.

According to her, “the genocide has already been committed,” but “we can still save lives and stop the slide into the abyss.”

“We know who is the main political and economic supporter of Israel. All eyes are on the United States, but there are other states as well,” she said, indicating that she plans to address the issue of responsibility and complicity in a future report.