UN voices concern over criticism of expert on Palestinian rights

FE Team | Published: February 14, 2026 00:35:29

A young Palestinian boy looks on as 53 unidentified bodies are buried in a cemetery in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Friday. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. — AFP

GENEVA, Feb 13 (Reuters): A UN human rights spokesperson said on Friday she was very worried about attacks on independent UN experts after European governments criticised the organisation's special rapporteur for Palestine Francesca Albanese.
This follows condemnation from Germany and other states this week of Albanese's alleged criticism of Israel. She denies making the remarks.
"We are very worried. We are concerned that UN officials, independent experts and judicial officials, are increasingly subjected to personal attacks, threats and misinformation that distracts from the serious human rights issues," said UN human rights office spokesperson Marta Hurtado at a Geneva press briefing when asked about the statements by European governments.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that Albanese was "untenable in her position".
On Friday, the Czech Republic's quoted her on X as having called Israel a "common enemy of humanity" and called for her resignation. A transcript of her remarks made in Doha on February 7 seen by Reuters did not characterise Israel in this way, although she has consistently criticised the country in the past over the Gaza conflict.