Francesca Albanese
Francesca AlbaneseReuters/Lev Radin/Sipa USA

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, who previously claimed that Israel does not have the right to protect itself from the Hamas terrorist organization, stated that calls for Hamas to release the hostages it kidnapped on October 7 are "unacceptable."

Albanese responded to a tweet by former State Department official Dennis Ross, who wrote: "The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is real. Why not call on Hamas to release all hostages and agree to have its leaders leave Gaza. They could save Palestinians from paying a further price. Real support for Palestinians should produce such a call. Isn’t it time for that?"

The Special Rapporteur wrote in response: "Regrettably, this sounds like: - putting the onus to end the carnage in Gaza on the Palestinians, including those being slaughtered in Gaza; - justifying and deflecting the attention from the atrocities committed by the Israeli army in Gaza. Unacceptable."

In another tweet yesterday, Albanese stated: "Fellow Europeans, Italians, Germans: after the Holocaust, we should instinctively know that Genocide starts with dehumanizing the Other. If Israel's current attack agst Palestinians doesnt prompt our strong reaction, the darkest page of our recent history has taught us nothing."

Albanese has consistently defended Hamas in the aftermath of the massacre of over 1,200 people in southern Israel and the taking of about 240 hostages on October 7.

In November, during a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, Albanese claimed that Israel had no right to engage in a war in response to the massacre, saying: “Israel cannot claim the right of self-defence against a threat that emanates from a territory it occupies, from a territory that is under belligerent occupation."

Albanese also told the Sydney Morning Herald on November 13 that Hamas is "entitled to embrace resistance," including the use of violence, against Israel.