UN Rapporteur's Claim about 'October 7 Victims' Provokes Israeli Anger

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz called for the dismissal of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's special rapporteur on Palestinian issues. According to the Israeli news site 'Times of Israel', this request came after Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestinian issues, claimed in her latest remarks that the 'oppression' was the reason behind the killings, which seemed to justify the massacre of Israelis by Hamas. 'Times of Israel' reported that Albanese tweeted in response to a report by the French newspaper Le Monde regarding French President Emmanuel Macron's tribute to the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel, stating, 'The victims of October 7 were not killed because they were Jewish, but in response to Israel's oppression.' Some of the victims of the Hamas attack in southern Israel were French citizens. Albanese further stated that she respects the victims. The French Foreign Ministry responded to Albanese's statement on social media platform X, stating that the October 7 attack was, in fact, 'the largest anti-Jewish massacre of the 21st century' and that 'the controversy over it is a mistake.' The French Foreign Ministry wrote, 'It seems that justifying it (the October 15 attack) while mentioning the United Nations is shameful. These remarks are even more disgraceful given that the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of racism is at the core of the establishment of the United Nations.' Katz wrote on Sunday afternoon that portraying the 'October 7 massacre as a reaction to 'Israel's oppression' and not an act of deep anti-Jewish hatred is deeply concerning.' He called for Guterres to 'immediately' dismiss Albanese. In response to the Hamas attack and its allies on October 15, Israel launched a comprehensive offensive to eliminate Hamas's military and organizational capabilities in Gaza. The United States destroyed two vessels and three cruise missiles belonging to the Houthis.