United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese commented on the deaths of the six Gaza hostages over the weekend by saying that all hostages, both “Israeli and Palestinian,” should be freed in a Monday post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Free the hostages, both Israeli and Palestinians,” she wrote.
“Whether the Israeli #hostages found dead in a Gaza tunnel were executed or killed, this is yet another heinous crime that must be accounted for,” she stated in the post.
[edited] Whether the Israeli #hostages found dead in a Gaza tunnel were executed or killed, this is yet another heinous crime that must be accounted for. Condoleances and solidarity to all those who are mourning their beloved ones.May all hostages, whomever their captors,…
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) September 2, 2024
Albanese’s comments follow the IDF’s Sunday announcement that it had retrieved the bodies of the six Gaza hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
The autopsy of the hostages conducted by the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine found they had been shot in the head approximately 48-72 hours before being discovered by the IDF.
Albanese's previous comments
Some 9,881 Palestinian security prisoners are currently held in Israeli jails as of August 2024.
A total of 3,432 Palestinians were held in administrative detention, along with 1,584 Palestinians dubbed “unlawful combatants,” 2,074 sentenced prisoners, and 2,791 detainees awaiting indictment or conviction.
Albanese has been known for her controversial anti-Israel comments both before and during the ongoing War.In late August, she stated Israel had no basis to operate in the West Bank on grounds of self-defense.
Earlier in August, the UN rapporteur claimed Israel was conducting genocide on the Palestinians and characterized Gaza as a concentration camp.
Yonah Jeremy Bob, Danielle Greyman-Kennard, and Reuters contributed to this report.