American veterans attacked, injured while distributing aid in Gaza with US-backed group

Two American veterans working with the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) were injured in an attack while distributing aid to Palestinians. The two veterans are reportedly receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition. GHF said the Americans were "highly decorated" veterans.

"GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food. Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings," the organization wrote on X.

GHF vowed that it was still committed to the mission of delivering aid to Gazans even in the face of violent attacks.

TERROR IN GAZA: HAMAS OFFERS BOUNTIES TO KILL US AND LOCAL AID WORKERS, GROUP SAYS

The organization later posted an image of grenade fragments left over from the attack, showing the weapons were packed with ball bearings. GHF said that after throwing the grenades the two assailants ran into a crowd of civilians. According to GHF Executive Chairman Rev. Johnnie Moore, the grenades were found to be of Iranian origin and have been "commonly used by Hamas."

"I am sorry to say also that today’s terror attack on Americans is partly a byproduct of the legitimacy that many in the press and at the [U.N.] provide to Hamas —amplifying Hamas’s lies about GHF every day, but also actively collaborating with Hamas," Moore wrote on X.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the attack, saying that "With Hamas no good deed goes unpunished."

PEOPLE IN GAZA ARE THANKING TRUMP FOR AID, LEADER OF US-BACKED GROUP SAYS

"The Hamas terrorist organization and other terrorist groups in Gaza continue efforts to sabotage and fail the distribution of humanitarian aid at the distribution sites and on the way to them," IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani wrote in a statement. "IDF troops facilitated a safe evacuation for further medical treatment. The Hamas terrorist organization and other terrorist groups in Gaza continue to harm the Gazan civilians."

GHF slammed the international community over its silence on the threats and violence against its aid workers.

"For weeks, we warned this would happen. We asked the aid community to condemn threats. They stayed silent. We asked the media to stop laundering Hamas lies. They kept printing. Today, Hamas followed through by attacking American veterans with grenades as they delivered food. The silence is deafening. At what point is allowing Hamas to terrorize aid workers and run a propaganda campaign through Western media no longer acceptable?"

The attack comes just one week after the organization said that Hamas put bounties on the heads of its workers, American and Palestinian alike. According to GHF, Hamas was offering money to anyone who killed or injured one of the organization’s aid workers.

"We are aware of credible reports that Hamas is openly targeting the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and those who work with us. According to these reports, Hamas has placed bounties on both our American security personnel and Palestinian aid workers, offering cash rewards to anyone who injures or kills them," GHF told Fox News Digital.

"The targets of Hamas’ brutality are heroes who are simply trying to feed the people of Gaza in the middle of a war."

As of July 4, GHF said it had delivered 60 million meals since it began distributing aid in May.

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UN blasted for funding committee 'created to destroy the Jewish state,' despite budget crisis

Critics slammed the United Nations for rewarding a controversial anti-Israel Commission of Inquiry with four new positions worth up to three-quarters of a million dollars, even as the world body undergoes a severe cash crisis.

"When it comes to spending money for the spread of antisemitism, the U.N. doesn't have a spending limit," Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital.

On June 4, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem (COI), led by South African Navi Pillay, announced four new job openings for senior-level positions in Geneva. These include two P-2 level associate interpreters, one higher-level P-3 level human rights officer, and a still more senior P-4 level human rights officer.

REVEALED: THE EXTENSIVE PERKS UN OFFICIALS RECEIVE WHILE ORDERING BUDGET CUTS

Combined, their salaries will range from $530,000 to $704,000, based on salary scales released by the U.N. and its location-based salary multiplier (set at .814 for Swiss employees), published in a document supplied to Fox News Digital by a diplomatic source. 

These salaries do not include other senior-level U.N. employee benefits, including dependent costs, housing allowances or relocation fees.

Bayefsky asked why the U.N.’s "belt-tightening exercise … applies to all kinds of urgent matters but exempts the COI, which has simultaneously gone on a spending-spree."

"The COI was created to destroy the Jewish state and is now conducting itself accordingly." She said its latest report, issued in June, is "totally unhinged" and "claims Israelis are like Nazis engaged in ‘extermination’ of the Palestinians, refers to those ‘extremist Jews,’ denies biblical history, [and] fuels antisemitism by claiming Jews defile Muslim holy sites."

A spokesperson from the U.N. Human Rights Office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about the Commission’s findings.

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Pillay and the COI have come under fire previously for anti-Israel sentiment. In January 2022, 42 Republicans and Democrats in Congress signed an open letter calling for the U.S. to defund the COI. The Representatives expressed concern that "Chairwoman Navi Pillay, while serving as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014, repeatedly and unjustly accused Israel of committing war crimes." They stated that while she condemned Israel, Pillay "reportedly said nothing at all about egregious human rights abuses in dozens of other countries which, unlike Israel, received the worst, ‘Not Free’ rating from the respected Freedom House."

In October 2023, a representative from the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva said before the Third Committee of the U.N. that the U.S. "remains deeply concerned about the scope and nature of the open-ended Commission of Inquiry established in May 2021. The COI demonstrates a particular bias against Israel in subjecting it to a unique mechanism that does not exist for any other U.N. Member State."

In October 2024, a report from the COI excluded information about Hamas’ use of Kamal Adwan Hospital for operations, failed to recount the maltreatment Israeli hostages received at Gazan hospitals, and could "not verify" that tunnels found below Al-Shifa hospital "were used for military purposes." Bayefsky said the report trafficked in blood libels.

In March, Pillay’s commission claimed that rape and sexual violence are part of the Israel Defense Force’s "standard operating procedures towards Palestinians." Pillay also said that the IDF’s sexual violence creates "a system of oppression that undermines [Palestinians’] right to self-determination." In response, Bayefsky called Pillay "the world’s leading champion of the 2001 U.N. ‘Durban Declaration’ slander that a Jewish state is a racist state."  

In March 2024, Congress passed a budget bill that eliminated funding for the COI while simultaneously banning funds for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to the Jerusalem Post.

The U.N. Human Rights Council is already experiencing the impact of the organization’s liquidity crisis.

In a June 16 letter penned by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the Human Rights Council outlines more than a dozen reports, as well as studies, regional workshops, and panels mandated by the Council, which could not be completed due to inadequate resourcing.

In response to a request for comment about how the COI has received additional personnel while the Human Rights Council deals with scarcity, spokesperson Pascal Sim told Fox News Digital that the Human Rights Council’s "views are only expressed in the resolutions and decisions that its 47 Member States adopt at the end of each of its sessions."

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To the question of whether the council is in greater need of personnel or funds to fulfill its current workload, Sim said that "Member States of the U.N. are currently continuing consultations on this matter."

In a press conference on July 1, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder updated reporters on U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ cost-cutting UN80 Initiative. 

Ryder said that the U.N. recognizes "that we have a difficult task of untangling the undergrowth of decisions and resolutions and mechanisms that we put in place to implement them, and we wonder if we’re going to be able to advance significantly."

Ryder also admitted that "When a similar review was undertaken 20 years ago, it ran rather quickly into the sand. It did not produce the results that were hoped for and expected at that time. We’re looking at that experience of 20 years ago, and we hope we can avoid some of the pitfalls." 

However, Bayefsky said, "For decades, the U.N. has engaged in phony cost-saving measures while their actual expenditures have ballooned," she said, noting that the U.S. "has always been satisfied by moving around the deck chairs on the Titanic."

Bayefsky said that "it's our government's job to put an end to this devious calculus by immediately withholding the entire U.N. budget until such time as the dangerous lesions are removed. It's our job to deny visas to the COI members planning to come to the United States in the next couple of months. 

"Contrary to popular belief, it is not required by the U.S.-U.N. host agreement to allow international travelers into the U.S. to fan the flames of antisemitism, and vandalize our fundamental values and the Constitution from the middle of New York City," Bayefsky said. "We need a new boat, not new deck chairs."

A budget proposal from the Trump administration leaked in April announced the intention to eliminate all expenditures to the U.N. and international organizations. 

In response to questions about whether a decision about U.N. funding has been finalized, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital that "President Trump is ensuring taxpayer dollars are used wisely. Any announcements regarding funding to international organizations will come from the President or the administration."

The U.S., through its taxpayers, is the single-largest contributor to the U.N. In 2022, the U.N. reports that $18.1 billion, or 26.8%, of its $67.5 billion in expenditures came from the U.S.

 

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UN report targeting Israel sparks backlash, author accused of overstepping her mandate

A United Nations report targeting Israel and companies that operate within the country entitled "Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide" is sparking backlash and concern.

The report was authored and presented by U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, a controversial figure who has been condemned by multiple nations for making allegedly antisemitic remarks. In her latest report, she calls for sanctions against "entities and individuals involved in activities that may endanger the Palestinians."

UN EXPERT REPEATS ISRAEL 'GENOCIDE' CLAIMS AFTER US CALLS FOR HER REMOVAL

NGO Monitor Legal Advisor Anne Herzberg said that while it’s not surprising that Albanese would issue a scathing report on Israel, as she has done so many times in the past, this latest report was unique.  

"I think that the difference now is that this report explicitly endorses adopting BDS — boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel — in a very overt way," Herzberg told Fox News Digital. She added that even though Albanese is an independent investigator, the report could be interpreted as the U.N. supporting the BDS movement against Israel.

In response to a Fox News Digital request for comment, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said "special procedures experts," like Albanese "work on a voluntary basis," do not receive a salary and are not U.N. staff.

"While the U.N. Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for special procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the U.N.," OHCHR’s media team told Fox News Digital. "Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the U.N. or OHCHR."

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Herzog told Fox News Digital that not only did Albanese overstep the boundaries of her role,  but so did the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC), as it does not have the authority to issue sanctions, something the report recommends.

"The U.N. Human Rights Council, which is where she presented her report, and that's under whose auspices she is working, does not have the power under the U.N. charter to issue sanctions," Herzog said. "And so not only has she overstepped her mandate as a rapporteur, the U.N. Human Rights Council by endorsing this, not endorsing the report, but by allowing this report to be published."

Herzog said she saw "threatening and harassing" letters that Albanese sent to companies and NGOs "basically threatening them with being included on her boycott list and claiming that they were complicit in international crimes like genocide, apartheid, blocking self-determination or Palestinians." 

ISRAEL TURNS TABLES ON UN OFFICIAL CLAIMING 'GENOCIDE' IN GAZA WITH BASIC QUESTIONS

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights is a voluntary code that companies can sign on to as a pledge to be mindful of how their operations run and their customers are treated. Herzog argued that Albanese "weaponizes this voluntary positive, pluralistic framework" and that she does so improperly, making it a "binding punitive framework."

"Not only is she distorting international law, she’s distorting this UNGP framework, and I suspect that if this type of activity of hers gains purchase or other people start following in her footsteps, she’s going to be responsible for basically destroying the whole area of business and human rights."

Albanese presented her report to the UNHRC on Thursday, just two days after the U.S. called for her removal over her "years-long pattern of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias." 

In the report, Albanese claims that corporations have aided Israel in "its ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza." She repeated this claim at UNHRC on Thursday, charging Israel with being "responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history." She also accused Israel of using the war in Gaza as a testing ground for new weapons "to exterminate a people without restraint."

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Daniel Meron, who was not present at the UNHRC meeting, told Fox News Digital that through her report Albanese is "willingly spearheading the global efforts to promote terrorism propaganda."

"This report, just like all others by this rapporteur, is riddled with inflammatory rhetoric and is legally baseless," Meron told Fox News Digital. "Her obsession with demonizing Israel is clear in the narrative she pushes."

Albanese did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions or request for comment in time for publication.

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Iran regime escalates repression toward 'North Korea-style model of isolation and control'

In the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the regime appears to be turning inward — escalating repression with chilling speed. 

According to Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, the Islamic Republic is accelerating toward what he said is a "North Korea-style model of isolation and control."

"We’re witnessing a kind of domestic isolation that will have major consequences for the Iranian people," Aarabi told Fox News Digital. "The regime has always been totalitarian, but the level of suppression now is unprecedented. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before."

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A source inside Iran confirmed to Fox News Digital that "the repression has become terrifying."

Aarabi, who maintains direct lines of contact in Iran, described a country under siege by its own rulers. In Tehran, he described how citizens are stopped at random, their phones confiscated and searched. "If you have content deemed pro-Israel or mocking the regime, you disappear," he said. "People are now leaving their phones at home or deleting everything before they step outside."

This new wave of paranoia and fear, he explained, mirrors tactics seen in North Korea — where citizens vanish without explanation and information is tightly controlled. During the recent conflict, Iran’s leadership imposed a total internet blackout to isolate the population, blocking Israeli evacuation alerts, and pushed propaganda that framed Israel as targeting civilians indiscriminately.

"It was a perverse objective," Aarabi said, adding, "They deliberately cut communications to instill fear and manipulate public perception. For four days, not a single message went through. Even Israeli evacuation alerts didn’t reach their targets."

The regime’s aim, he said, was twofold: to keep people off the streets and erode the surprising bond that had formed between Iranians and Israelis. "At the start of the war, many Iranians welcomed the strikes," Aarabi noted. "They knew Israel was targeting the IRGC — the very forces responsible for suppressing and killing their own people. But once the internet was cut and fear set in, some began to question what was happening."

Dr. Afshon Ostovar, a leading Iran scholar and author of "Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards," said domestic repression remains the regime’s most reliable strategy for survival. 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR IRAN'S TERROR ARMY, THE IRGC, AFTER DEVASTATING MILITARY SETBACKS?

"Repressing the people at home is easy. That’s something they can do. So it’s not unlikely that Iran could become more insular, more autocratic, more repressive — and more similar to, let’s say, a North Korea — than what it is today. That might be the only way they see to preserve the regime: by really tightening the screws on the Iranian people, to ensure that the Iranian population doesn’t try to rise up and topple the regime," he told Fox News Digital.

Inside the regime’s power structure, the fallout from the war is just as severe. Aarabi said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is facing an internal crisis of trust and an imminent purge. "These operations couldn’t have taken place without infiltration at the highest levels," he said. "There’s immense pressure now to clean house."

The next generation of IRGC officers — those who joined after 2000 — are younger, more radical and deeply indoctrinated. Over half of their training is now ideological. Aarabi said that these newer factions have begun turning on senior commanders, accusing them of being too soft on Israel or even collaborating with Mossad.

"In a twist of irony, Khamenei created these extreme ideological ranks to consolidate power — and now they’re more radical than he is," Aarabi said. "He’s struggling to control them."

A purge is likely, along with the rise of younger, less experienced commanders with far higher risk tolerance — a shift that could make the IRGC more volatile both domestically and internationally. With Iran’s conventional military doctrine in ruins, terrorism may become its primary lever of influence.

"The regime's three pillars — militias, ballistic missiles, and its nuclear program — have all been decapitated or severely degraded," Aarabi said. "That leaves only asymmetric warfare: soft-target terrorism with plausible deniability."

Despite the regime’s brutal turn inward, Aarabi insists this is a sign of weakness, not strength. "If the Islamic Republic were confident, it wouldn’t need to crush its people this way," he said. "It’s acting out of fear. But until the regime’s suppressive apparatus is dismantled, the streets will remain silent — and regime change remains unlikely."

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Violent criminal gangs have 'near-total control' of nation's capital, UN says

Haiti's criminal gangs have exerted "near-total control" over the capital, as escalating violence pushes the Caribbean nation "closer to the brink," senior U.N. officials warned Wednesday.

Gangs control an estimated 90% of Port-au-Prince, Ghada Fathy Waly, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, told the U.N. Security Council. Waly noted that gangs are expanding into previously peaceful areas.

"Southern Haiti, which until recently was insulated from the violence, has seen a sharp increase in gang-related incidents," she said. "And in the east, criminal groups are exploiting land routes, including key crossings like Belladere and Malpasse, where attacks against police and customs officials have been reported."

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca informed the council that "the ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince" and their strengthened foothold in the capital and beyond is "pushing the situation closer to the brink."

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION POLICY IN SHOCKING DECISION ON HAITIAN PROTECTIONS

"Without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario," he warned.

Gangs have gained power since President Jovenel Moïse's assassination in July 2021, previously controlling 85% of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.

A new U.N. report covering last October through February highlights that gangs have exploited political turmoil and Haiti's disorganized security response, saying competing political ambitions and corruption allegations within transitional governing bodies have hindered action.

BLACKWATER FOUNDER ERIK PRINCE TEAMS WITH HAITIAN GOVERNMENT TO FIGHT GANG VIOLENCE

"While the expansion of territorial control brings gangs additional sources of revenue and bargaining power," the U.N. experts said in the report, "these attacks are also backed by individuals trying to destabilize the political transition for their own political goals."

The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for Haiti in September 2024, warning Americans against visiting due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and limited healthcare.

In May, the Trump administration designated two of Haiti’s most powerful gang networks, Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif, as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Why Syria plays a key role in Trump’s plans for Middle East peace

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order lifting most U.S. sanctions on Syria, in a move experts say reflects growing recognition inside the administration that Syria, long a battleground for Iranian influence and Islamist terror, may now offer the U.S. a rare opportunity to reclaim regional leverage, counter enemies, and support allies like Israel and Jordan.

At a White House press briefing Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, "This is another promise made and promise kept by this president," she said, referring to Trump’s recent meeting with Syria’s new transitional leader Ahmed al-Sharaa during a trip to Saudi Arabia. "He’s committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors."

"The sanctions did their job," David Schenker, former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs and now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital. "They were crippling by and large. There’s zero economic life in the country. But Trump is giving Syria a chance to succeed."

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER LIFTING SANCTIONS ON SYRIA

Javed Ali, former senior official at the National Security Council and professor at the University of Michigan, told Fox News Digital, "It’s a strategic calculation. A Syria that no longer hosts Iranian proxies, cooperates on counterterrorism, and integrates with Arab neighbors serves U.S. interests on every front."

According to Schenker, Syria has taken steps the U.S. has long demanded: allowing inspections by the IAEA and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, sharing intelligence on ISIS, and cooperating with American liaison officers on counterterrorism. "These groups have declared al-Sharaa an infidel. They themselves are being attacked by ISIS," he noted.

For the U.S., the stakes extend far beyond sanctions relief. Schenker said a stable Syria focused on education and social services, rather than military buildup, would be far less fertile ground for ISIS or Iranian influence.

Ali described the current moment as part of a broader Trump strategy: "Now with Assad gone, it’s another blow to the Islamic Republic of Iran. This creates an opportunity to coalesce the Sunni Arab states – either around the Abraham Accords or a growing anti-Iran coalition."

The U.S. military still maintains a small but critical footprint in Syria – approximately 1,000 troops across three to four bases in the northeast – providing vital intelligence and rapid strike capability. "That footprint has been one of our most important counterterrorism outposts," Ali said. "We’ve seen multiple targeted operations this year alone."

TRUMP ASKS SYRIA TO JOIN ABRAHAM ACCORDS, NORMALIZE TIES WITH ISRAEL IN RETURN FOR SANCTIONS RELIEF

He said, however, that deeper U.S.-Syrian cooperation could bring new complications. "There’s always a risk that as ties deepen, either the U.S. could reduce its presence – or al-Sharaa might ask us to scale back," Ali said. "That could impact our ability to monitor jihadist activity or manage the tens of thousands of ISIS detainees still in camps guarded by SDF forces."

Meanwhile, the diplomatic implications of Trump’s move are drawing global attention. Syria’s new leadership has publicly distanced itself from Iran, reportedly blocked Hezbollah weapon shipments, and dismantled multiple Iranian military posts across the country.

"The president is genuinely focused on expanding the Abraham Accords," said Schenker. "He sees Syria as the next possible candidate."

NSC spokesman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. "President Trump is working towards lasting peace in the Middle East, which includes supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors. The President is empowering Syria’s success by lifting sanctions on export controls while maintaining sanctions on terrorists and all other potential threats to the United States. The President made a promise to give Syria a chance to rebuild and thrive by lifting sanctions, and this President keeps his promises."

Still, normalization with Israel remains politically fraught. Syria remains officially at war with the Jewish state, and while Sharaa has hinted at accepting the pre-1974 ceasefire lines, jihadist factions and Islamist groups within Syria remain staunchly opposed. "There have already been reported assassination attempts on Sharaa," Schenker said. "It’s going to get harder if he moves from non-belligerency to full normalization."

Charles Lister, director of the Syria program at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital, "Syria has always been an open wound in the center of the region – an engine of instability… But if it stabilizes now, it unlocks a path for broader regional integration. It connects Israel and Jordan to a more secure arc and reduces the need for heavy U.S. military involvement."

Despite encouraging signs on the diplomatic track – such as reported back-channel talks and reduced rhetoric – Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory have continued, with hundreds launched this year alone. Syria’s new leadership has not responded militarily, but tensions remain high.

"The facts on the ground don’t yet reflect the progress being made behind closed doors," Lister said. "We just have to hope that those two dynamics meet in the middle, and things calm down on the ground as well."

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UN expert repeats Israel 'genocide' claims after US calls for her removal

Representatives of United Nations member states gathered in Geneva on Thursday to discuss the latest report by the controversial U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese. The meeting came just two days after the U.S. Mission to the U.N. called for Albanese’s removal, citing her "years-long pattern of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias."

In Albanese’s report, entitled "From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide," Israel is described as "a regime of settler-colonial apartheid." Additionally, Albanese claims that corporations have aided Israel in "its ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza." 

ISRAEL TURNS TABLES ON UN OFFICIAL CLAIMING 'GENOCIDE' IN GAZA WITH BASIC QUESTIONS

"Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history," Albanese said when opening the session in Geneva on Thursday. She further alleged that "Israel has used the genocide as an opportunity to test new weapons, customized surveillance, lethal drones, radar systems and other unmanned technology to exterminate a people without restraint."

Palestinian envoy to the U.N. in Geneva Ibrahim Khraishi was given the first opportunity to respond to Albanese’s opening statement after Human Rights Council President Jürg Lauber acknowledged that Israeli representatives were not present. Khraishi used his response not only to praise Albanese, but also to criticize the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in New York.

Khraishi praised Albanese’s report and said it provided "a comprehensive analysis of how an economy of occupation became an economy of genocide backed by a series of transnational corporations from the industry of weapons to AI and digital surveillance."

UN COMMISSION ACCUSES ISRAEL OF 'EXTERMINATION' IN CONTROVERSIAL REPORT

The representative then defended Albanese and slammed the U.S. for accusing the special rapporteur of antisemitism, claiming that "antisemites are those who support the genocidal government," referring to Israel.

U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer was one of the only dissenting voices against the report. In his response to Albanese, Neuer pointed out that in the report "Israel is accused of genocide 68 times."

"Israel has been fighting a just war against a terrorist army, which cynically embeds itself among civilians. Ms. Albanese, war is not genocide, but in your report there’s no war at all, it’s only about Israel," Neuer said. He went on to question the omission from the report of the attacks carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

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While Israel's Mission to the U.N. in Geneva was not physically present to respond, its ambassador issued a scathing condemnation of the special rapporteur in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Francesca Albanese is willingly spearheading the global efforts to promote terrorism propaganda. This report, just like all others by this rapporteur, is riddled with inflammatory rhetoric and is legally baseless," Ambassador of Israel to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron told Fox News Digital. "Her obsession with demonizing Israel is clear in the narrative she pushes."

"Her allegations that Israel is committing ‘genocide’ and is engaged in ‘apartheid’ are erroneous and offensive. Israel is fighting a legitimate war to defend itself," Meron added. "Yet, Albanese deliberately and systematically omits any mention of the existence of Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis, or the barrages of rockets on Israel launched by Iran. She aids Iran and its terrorist proxies in promoting a narrative that distorts reality and ignores the suffering of the hostages."

HAMAS 'SERIOUS' ABOUT REACHING CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT BUT INSISTS ON LONG-STANDING DEMANDS

In addition to her condemnation of corporations with ties to Israel, Albanese also took aim at the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which she described as "nothing else than a death trap engineered to starve and force the flight of a starved, bombarded, emaciated population marked for elimination." This sentiment was echoed by Khraishi, who also referred to the GHF as a "trap."

The GHF, which has the backing of the Trump administration, has repeatedly pushed back against critics, including the U.N., and has encouraged them to join in its goal of delivering aid to the Palestinian people in a way that prevents Hamas from stealing it. 

"We’ve delivered more than 52 million meals in just five weeks. Not talking points, not headlines, but food reaching Palestinian families every single day," a GHF spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Meanwhile, other organizations stand by helplessly as their aid is looted. We’ve offered to help them deliver it safely. They’ve refused."

On Tuesday, the U.S. Mission to the U.N. once again expressed concerns about Albanese and released a statement calling for her removal and reiterating its opposition to her reappointment earlier this year.

"In recent weeks, Ms. Albanese has escalated her years-long pattern of virulent antisemitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias by dispatching threatening correspondence to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American corporations," the U.S. Mission’s statement read. "These letters advance deeply flawed legal arguments to support extreme and unfounded accusations that these organizations are complicit in gross human rights violations, apartheid, and genocide. These letters also constitute an unacceptable campaign of political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy."

UN OFFICIAL REAPPOINTED DESPITE ACCUSATIONS OF ANTISEMITISM

In the past, Albanese has also been condemned by France and Germany due to her statements about Israel, some of which have been criticized as being antisemitic.

In February 2024, Albanese was condemned by France and Germany after saying French President Emmanuel Macron was wrong to call Hamas’ Oct. 7 events "the largest antisemitic massacre of our century." In her response, she said "The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel’s oppression."

France said Albanese seemed to "justify" the attacks and that her remarks were "all the more scandalous given that the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of racism are at the heart of the founding of the U.N," according to the ADL.

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