A report by the United Nations special rapporteur on Palestine has revealed that 63 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, were complicit in Israel’s two-year genocide in the Gaza Strip, it emerged on Wednesday.
The report, written by Francesca Albanese and available with dawn.compoints out that Israel’s actions were not carried out in isolation, but with the help of “third states.”
“The genocide in Gaza was not committed in isolation, but as part of a system of global complicity,” the report states.
“Instead of ensuring that Israel respects the basic human rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, powerful third states, perpetuating colonial and racial capitalist practices that should have long been relegated to history, have allowed violent practices to become an everyday reality.”
The report adds that foreign countries facilitating Israel and shielding it from accountability have allowed Tel Aviv to “embed its colonial apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
He adds that the Gaza genocide must be understood as an “internationally enabled crime.”
“Many states, mainly Western ones, have facilitated, legitimized and, ultimately, normalized the genocidal campaign perpetrated by Israel,” the report reads.
“By presenting Palestinian civilians as ‘human shields’… and the broader attack on Gaza as a battle of civilization against barbarism, they have reproduced Israeli distortions of international law and colonial tropes, seeking to justify their own complicity in the genocide.”
The report notes that successful measures implemented against apartheid in South Africa, Rhodesia and other colonial regimes “demonstrate that international law can be enforced to ensure justice and self-determination.”
He added that the international community has the same legal and moral obligation to apply these and other measures against any State that perpetrates apartheid.
“Their failure to hold Israel accountable for its long-standing international crimes, despite clear orders from international courts, exposes the international community’s blatant double standards,” the report reads.
He further noted that States have a variety of options to prevent violations of international law, including the use of force, trade and arms embargoes, denial of safe passage, and prosecution and punishment.
Diplomatic and political actions
The UN report states that the support of “influential” third countries for Israel has allowed it to continue its attack on Palestine, through the adoption of Israeli narratives and Washington’s veto of UN Security Council resolutions against Tel Aviv.
The report adds that Israel has not been expelled from international sports and cultural forums.
“States once again treated the situation as a humanitarian crisis that must be managed, rather than resolved, demanding that Israel end its illegal occupation once and for all, giving more leeway to the attack on Gaza,” he said.
He added that in February 2024, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands criticized the Israeli invasion of Rafah and at the same time withdrew funds from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The UN also noted that sanctions on Israeli settlers and extremist organizations – including far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir – created the “illusion of progress” and were isolated acts.
While Arab and Muslim states have long supported the Palestinian cause and produced some collective effort, “these actions have not been decisive, even in the midst of Israeli aggression against six Arab states.”
Furthermore, legal action has been fruitless: only 13 states joined South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice and many Western nations “persistently” denied that a genocide had taken place in Gaza.
Military relations
The UN noted that while evidence of genocide has increased, nations still trade and ship weapons to Israel.
“Israel is disproportionately dependent on arms imports, and the proportion of its total trade is more than double the OECD average and more than four times that of the United States,” the report reads, naming the United States, Germany and Italy among the largest suppliers.
“The third MoU (memorandum of understanding) between the United States and Israel, valid until 2028, guarantees $3.3 billion [per] year in FMF (foreign military financing) plus $500 million [per] year for anti-missile defense.”
The report states that since October 2023, the United States has transferred 742 shipments of “arms and ammunition” and approved tens of billions in new weapons sales.
“Between October 2023 and October 2025, 26 States sent at least 10 shipments of “arms and ammunition” to Israel, the most frequent being China, including Taiwan, India, Italy, Austria, Spain, the Czech Republic, Romania and France,” it said.
Although the UK did not supply weapons directly, it did allow a US supply line to Tel Aviv through its bases in Cyprus and conducted 600 surveillance flights over Gaza over the past two years.
Help to assemble
The report further stated that third countries were complicit in the degradation of living conditions in Gaza, not only by facilitating aid to Israel but also by failing to provide adequate aid to Palestinians in the enclave.
“Since October 2023, Israel has converted existing restrictions into a complete blockade. From October 2023 to January 2025, aid was limited to an average of 107 trucks per day, less than a third of pre-2023 levels,” the report said, adding that famine had been declared in the Gaza Strip in August of this year.
“Israel’s genocidal campaign has deliberately sought to destroy the humanitarian system that sustains the occupied population,” he further stated.
“(Israel) has done so by directly bombing UNRWA warehouses, food distribution sites, schools and clinics, killing more than 370 people. [launching] smear campaigns against UNRWA and the promotion of ad hoc pseudo-humanitarian agencies.”
Instead of opposing Israel’s blockade, nations such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark and Jordan airdropped aid packages in what the report calls a “costly, inadequate and dangerous response.”
“Naval aid missions to Gaza and attempts by civil society groups to break the siege have been illegally intercepted by Israel in international waters, amid silence and inaction by third states,” the report reads.
Commercial ties
Noting that Israel relies heavily on foreign trade for its economy, the report states that no Western country has stopped trade ties in the face of Israeli violations of international law. In fact, trade between Israel and some countries grew.
- Germany (+836 million dollars)
- Poland (+237 million dollars)
- Greece (+186 million dollars)
- Italy (+117 million dollars)
- Denmark (+$99 million)
- France (+75 million dollars)
- Serbia (+56 million dollars)
- United Arab Emirates (+237 million dollars)
- Egypt (+199 million dollars)
- Jordan (+41 million dollars)
- Morocco (+6 million dollars)
“In addition to suspending the trade agreement with Israel, states must also suspend all trade with Israel in dual-use products, as [European Union] “What he did to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine,” the report urged.
“Energy trade has often been subject to embargoes aimed at bringing countries into line with their international legal obligations: examples include apartheid South Africa and, currently, Russia and Iran,” he added. “In the case of Israel, only Colombia has acted, which banned coal exports to Israel in 2024.”
The report said in its conclusion: “Even as genocidal violence became visible, states, mostly Western, have provided and continue to provide Israel with military, diplomatic, economic and ideological support, even as it used hunger and humanitarian aid as weapons.
“The horrors of the last two years are not an aberration, but the culmination of a long history of complicity.”
Through omissions and speeches in support of Israel, third countries “could and should be held responsible for aiding, assisting or jointly participating in internationally unlawful acts.”
“At this critical juncture, it is imperative that third states immediately suspend and review all military, diplomatic and economic relations with Israel, as any such engagement could represent a means to directly aid/assist/participate in illegal acts, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”
The report recommended that states do the following:
- Press for a complete and permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops.
- Take immediate steps to end the siege in Gaza, including the deployment of naval and land convoys to ensure safe humanitarian access and mobile housing before winter.
- Support the reopening of Gaza’s international airport and port to facilitate the delivery of aid.
- Recognize that Palestinian self-determination and justice are essential for lasting peace and security.
- Suspend all military, commercial and diplomatic relations with Israel.
- Investigate and prosecute all officials, companies and individuals involved in or facilitating genocide, incitement, crimes against humanity and war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.
- Safe repairs, including total rebuild and return
- Cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice
- Reaffirm and strengthen support for UNRWA and the United Nations system as a whole.
- Suspending Israel from the United Nations under Article 6 (a member of the United Nations that has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Security Council) of the United Nations Charter.
- Act within the framework of “United for Peace”, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 377 (V), to ensure that Israel dismantles its occupation.
