Albanese

Special rapporteur says Israel’s nonresponse to the growing crisis reflects its attitude towards Palestinians.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on Palestine, has accused Israel of treating Palestinian lives as “expendable”, linking the “hellish” impact of a deadly winter storm in Gaza directly to the deliberate destruction of the enclave’s infrastructure.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic on Tuesday as a deep weather depression pummelled the Gaza Strip, killing at least seven children, Albanese said the weather disaster had exposed the depth of Israel’s disregard for civilian survival.

“It is shocking even for me sitting far away. … Their lives seem like hell,” Albanese said, reacting to testimonies of families sitting in mud and darkness as their makeshift shelters collapsed.

“We hear of family members … searching for relatives buried under rubble because damaged buildings collapsed on top of them due to the intensity of the rain.”

A ‘man-made’ vulnerability

While the storm is a natural event, humanitarian officials argued its lethality is political.

James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF currently in Gaza City, confirmed that seven children had died as a result of cold temperatures. He stressed that these children did not die merely from the cold but also because a “man-made shortage” of food and medicine has left them with zero resilience.

“Children aged two or three have severely weakened immune systems,” Elder told Al Jazeera, describing the situation as “extreme misery”.

“We are talking about layers upon layers of rejection [of aid],” he added, noting that Israel continues to block the entry of cooking gas and fuel needed for heating, leaving families defenceless against winds that weather experts said exceeded 100 kilometres per hour (60 miles per hour).

‘Expendable lives’

When asked about the lack of humanitarian response and Israel’s move to cut ties with UN agencies during such a crisis, Albanese was blunt.

“Israel generally does not care about Palestinian lives. On the contrary, it finds them expendable and [believes they] can be destroyed,” she said.

She argued that the international community is complicit by focusing on other global conflicts while ignoring the “genocide” that has left Gaza’s population exposed to the elements without homes, electricity or drainage systems.

“What more do we need to see? What have we not seen yet?” she asked.

Call for arms embargo

Albanese insisted that sending aid, which is often blocked, is no longer a sufficient response to such catastrophes. She called for immediate punitive measures against Israel to force a change in its policy.

“States must cut trade ties, impose an embargo on arms exports and stop normal dealings with Israel,” she told Al Jazeera.

She emphasised that the “starting point” for any solution must be the International Court of Justice advisory opinion ordering the dismantling of the occupation rather than political plans that ignore the reality on the ground.

‘Winds like a tropical storm’

The vulnerability of the population was highlighted by Khaled Saleh, a senior weather presenter at Al Jazeera.

He explained that the depression brought polar winds reaching speeds typically associated with tropical storms.

“These winds can uproot trees, … so imagine what they do to worn-out tents,” Saleh said, noting that the lack of infrastructure meant water had nowhere to go but into the shelters of displaced Palestinians.

Albanese said Australia has more guns now than 30 years ago, when the country’s deadliest-ever mass shooting took place.

Australia will launch a national gun buyback scheme, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced, as the country continues to come to terms with the deadly attack on a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead.

Albanese called the plan the country’s biggest gun buyback since 1996 – the year of Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history, the Port Arthur massacre in the island state of Tasmania – and said authorities will purchase surplus, newly-banned and illegal firearms.

“Right now, there are more guns in Australia than there were during Port Arthur. We can’t allow that to continue,” Albanese told a news conference on Friday, adding that there are currently more than four million firearms in the country.

“Non-citizens have no need to own a gun. And someone in suburban Sydney has no need to own six … The terrible events of Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets,” he said.

Albanese added that authorities in Australia’s states and territories will be tasked with collecting the weapons and processing payments for surrendered firearms under the scheme. Federal police will then be responsible for destroying them.

“We expect hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed through this scheme,” Albanese added.

Aided by some of the toughest gun restrictions globally, Australia has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world.

Restrictions were tightened after a lone gunman, armed with semiautomatic weapons, killed 35 people at the Port Arthur tourist site almost 30 years ago.

The massacre shocked the country, with authorities soon after launching a major gun amnesty and buyback scheme that removed more than 650,000 newly-prohibited firearms from circulation.

‘We need to do more to combat this evil scourge’

Sunday’s shooting in Sydney’s Bondi Beach area – in which two attackers, named as father and son Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, went on a shooting spree and killed 15 people – has had a similarly jolting impact on Australian society as the Port Arthur massacre and prompted self-reflection.

Albanese said 50-year-old Sajid – who was shot dead at the scene – and 24-year-old Naveed – who was charged with “terrorism” and murder offences after he awoke from a coma on Tuesday – were inspired by “Islamic State ideology”.

On Thursday, Albanese announced tougher hate speech laws as he acknowledged the country had experienced a rising tide of anti-Jewish hate since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Albanese said rising anti-Semitism in Australia “culminated on Sunday in one of the worst acts of mass murder that this country has ever seen”.

“It was an attack on our Jewish community – but it was also an attack on the Australian way of life,” he said.

“Australians are shocked and angry. I am angry. It is clear we need to do more to combat this evil scourge, much more,” he added.

The prime minister also announced on Friday that Australia will hold a national day of reflection this Sunday – one week after the mass shooting.

Albanese urged Australians to light candles at 6:47pm (07:47 GMT) on Sunday, December 21 – “exactly one week since the attack unfolded”.

“It is a moment to pause, reflect, and affirm that hatred and violence will never define who we are as Australians,” he told reporters.

Earlier on Friday, hundreds of people plunged into the ocean off Bondi Beach in another gesture to honour the dead.

Swimmers and surfers paddled into a circle as they bobbed in the gentle morning swell, splashing water and roaring with emotion.

“They slaughtered innocent victims, and today I’m swimming out there and being part of my community again to bring back the light,” security consultant Jason Carr told the AFP news agency.

“We’re still burying bodies. But I just felt it was important,” the 53-year-old said.

“I’m not going to let someone so evil, someone so dark, stop me from doing what I do and what I enjoy doing,” he said.