Unhrc

'Torn apart, held in darkness, denied food, medicine, and dignity': Hostage families speak at UNHRC

Hostage families shared harrowing testimony at the UN, urging swift action to save their loved ones from Hamas captivity.

During today’s September session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, two video statements were screened on behalf of families of hostages held in Gaza. on September 17th, 2025.
 Deputy Minister, Alvin Botes delivers a National Statement at the Annual High Level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming under the theme “Thirty years of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: challenges and opportunities”, at the UNHRC, Geneva.

UN Human Rights Council to hold urgent debate on Israeli airstrike on Qatar

 The flag alley at the United Nations European headquarters is seen during the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, September 11, 2023.

UN inquiry on Israeli violence hampered by funding shortfall, document shows

 Press briefing by Francesca Albanese, Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories at UN Headquarters on October 27, 2022.

UN fails to prevent renewal of Albanese’s mandate until 2028 despite history of antisemitism


Israel is ramping up annexation of West Bank, UN rights chief says

The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime," UN High Commissioner Volker Turk said.

 Muslim women walk, as Israeli settlers carry Israeli flags next to a checkpoint near the Ibrahimi mosque, also known as the Cave of Patriarchs, on the day of the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, in Hebron's Old City, in the West Bank March 15, 2024.

When Arabs kill Arabs, no one bats an eye: Pro-Israel influencer Luai Ahmed slams UNHRC

Ahmed also references other countries such as Sudan and Syria where there are ongoing humanitarian crises, accusing the UN body of only acknowledging such crises where Israel could be blamed.

Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses the UNHRC on his report on the human rights situation in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

'Hubris and self-righteousness': UN's Albanese slams Israel's withdrawal from UNHRC

Albanese claimed that Israel's decision shows a "lack of realization of what they have done. They insist on self-righteousness."

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025.

FM Sa'ar announces Israel withdraws from UNHRC

This move comes a day after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the UNHRC on Tuesday.

MK Gideon Sa'ar attends a civil investigative committee hearing on the October 7 massacre, in Tel Aviv, August 18, 2024

UN rights chief calls on states to challenge Israel over 'occupation'

The UN human rights chief has announced that ending the conflict in Gaza is a priority, saying that the Western war needs to stop enabling the war by scapegoating immigrants.

 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Volker Turk holds a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela January 28, 2023.

Education first step to addressing antisemitism at UNHRC, Amb. Taylor says - exclusive

It’s part of a “growing effort to address this issue throughout the United Nations” in general and at the UNHRC in specific in a ‘more direct way.

 Deputy Minister, Alvin Botes delivers a National Statement at the Annual High Level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming under the theme “Thirty years of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: challenges and opportunities”, at the UNHRC, Geneva.

'Normalizing taking hostages and rape': Hostage families slam UNHRC sexual violence report

Leshem Gonen stated the report compiled by the COI “has failed to properly address” the accounts of “sexual violence that occurred on the day of the attack [October 7] and during captivity.”

 Meirav Leshem Gonen, mother of 23-year-old hostage Romi Gonen, spoke at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.

Most Brits would support the UK ending arms sales to Israel, poll finds

Pressue to end arms sales to Israel has increased since an Israeli airstrike mistakenly killed seven aid workers in Gaza.

 An arms dealer puts firearms on display at an exhibition, as the war in Gaza and the U.S.-led strikes on Houthi targets raise demand for firearms, in Sanaa, Yemen March 4, 2024.

UNHRC calls for arms embargo against Israel, asks it to prevent genocide

The resolution did not mention Hamas or condemn it for the invasion of Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 seized as hostages.

 Deputy Minister, Alvin Botes delivers a National Statement at the Annual High Level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming under the theme “Thirty years of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: challenges and opportunities”, at the UNHRC, Geneva.

‘It was like a horror movie,’ Oct. 7 survivors tell UNHRC

A relative of Israeli-Bedouin hostages, Yosef Hamis Ziadna and his son Hamza, and a Nova music festival survivor addressed the UN Human Rights Council about October 7 and the lasting impact it has.

 Pictures of Israelis who were murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova festival placed outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on February 7, 2024

UN rights chief says essential to avoid conflagration in Gaza war

The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in hostilities for months in parallel to the Gaza war, the worst conflict between the two since 2006.

 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Volker Turk holds a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela January 28, 2023