U.N. Rapporteur for Palestine: Gaza War Risks "Largest Instance of Ethnic Cleansing" in Mideast History

Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, says the latest violence in Israel and Palestine has shocked even long-term observers of the conflict. She says Hamas atrocities cannot justify Israeli crimes in Gaza, where at least 3,300 people have been killed since Israel began pounding the territory with thousands of bombs. What we are watching is a catastrophe of Olympian proportions," says Albanese. The only reasonable and necessary thing to ask for is an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, which of course must be also accompanied by the release of the civilian hostages that Hamas has taken." She says the scale of Israel's response cannot be considered proportional, and warns that the displacement of potentially millions of Palestinians from Gaza would constitute the largest instance of ethnic cleansing in the history of this tormented land."