A United Nations human rights expert on Wednesday sharply criticised the Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 2803, warning that the measure undermines the Palestinian right to self-determination and could entrench Israel’s “unlawful” presence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said the resolution — adopted Monday with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions from Russia and China — fails to ground the international response in the body of law the Council is obligated to uphold.
“I welcome the UN Security Council’s renewed attention on Gaza and the urgent need for a permanent ceasefire,” Albanese said. “But I am deeply perplexed. Despite the horrors of the last two years and the ICJ’s clear jurisprudence, the Council has chosen not to ground its response in international human rights law, the law governing the use of force, international humanitarian law, and the UN Charter.”
She said Article 24(2) of the Charter requires the Council to act in accordance with the UN’s purposes and principles, but argued that the new resolution “risks entrenching external control over Gaza’s governance, borders, security, and reconstruction.”
According to Albanese, the measure replaces the legal obligations owed to Palestinians with a “security-first, capital-driven model of foreign control” that entrenches existing power imbalances. She said its mandates to “secure borders,” “protect civilians,” and “decommission weapons” focus primarily on disarming Palestinian armed groups while failing to address what she described as the root causes of the conflict: Israel’s siege, occupation, racial segregation, apartheid and forced displacement.
Albanese also aimed provisions envisioning a military force under a “Board of Peace” chaired by the U.S. president. She said placing such authority in the hands of a state she considers an active party to the conflict and supporter of Israel’s occupation “is not legal” and amounts to imposing U.S. and Israeli interests “by threat of continued force against a virtually defenseless population.”
“Essentially, it will leave Palestine in the hands of a puppet administration,” she said. “Assigning the United States, which shares complicity in the genocide, as the new manager of the open-air prison that Israel has already established.”
The Special Rapporteur said any international presence in the occupied Palestinian territories should be mandated to supervise Israel’s “immediate and unconditional withdrawal,” citing the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion and a related General Assembly resolution. Such a mission, she said, should focus on protecting civilians, preventing displacement, ensuring accountability for grave violations and supporting Palestinians’ right to determine their political future.
Albanese warned that Israel’s continued presence in any part of the occupied territories constitutes an “internationally wrongful act” that states, including the United States, are prohibited from recognizing or assisting. She said the ICJ has affirmed that self-determination is an inalienable Palestinian right that requires Israel’s withdrawal.
“Replacing an abusive trustee with another is not self-determination,” she said. “It is unlawful.”
She urged states, particularly those that voted for the measure, to interpret and implement it in line with binding international law. She cautioned that some governments are already using the plan as a “political pressure valve” to sideline discussions on sanctions or other measures aimed at halting serious violations.
“To sideline international law renders the UN complicit, undermines the UN Charter and can only lead to intensifying human carnage,” she said.
Calling the moment “existential,” Albanese said the future of Gaza and the wider Palestinian people must not be decided without their “agency and consent.”
“Only an approach rooted in justice, legality and self-determination can lead to genuine peace,” she said.
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