The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Israel is responsible for “one of the cruellest genocides in modern history” and described conditions in Gaza as “apocalyptic.” In a speech on 3 July, she urged UN member states to impose a full arms embargo on Israel and to suspend all trade, investment and financial links with the country. Albanese’s report, “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,” asserts that more than sixty corporate actors across the arms, technology, construction, energy and finance sectors are directly profiting from and enabling Israel’s military campaign and settlement expansion. Firms cited include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Airbnb, Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar and BP. The rapporteur said corporate participation has turned Gaza into “a laboratory” for new weapons and surveillance technologies. According to the document, Israel has used about 85,000 tonnes of munitions—six times the explosive power of the Hiroshima bomb—since October 2023, while the Gaza Health Ministry reports at least 57,130 deaths and 135,173 injuries. Albanese also labelled the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation a “death trap” allegedly designed to kill or displace civilians, and highlighted a 200 percent rise in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s market value—evidence, she said, that “genocide is profitable” for some investors. Israel’s delegation, which has adopted a policy of disengagement from the council, did not attend the session. In earlier statements the Israeli mission dismissed Albanese’s findings as “defamatory” and said its military actions in Gaza are lawful responses to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. Albanese called on governments to hold both states and corporations legally accountable for violations of international law.