UN Rapporteur Warns India Could Face Legal Responsibility Over Israel Ties

India's Israel Partnership Comes Under Legal Scrutiny

More than 18,500 Palestinian arrests, about 1,500 children detained and over 4,000 recorded cases of enforced disappearance form part of the findings behind Francesca Albanese's warning to India: its military and political support for Israel could expose it to responsibility under international law.

Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, made the accusation in an interview after presenting her report, Torture and Genocide, to the UN Human Rights Council's 61st session on March 23. The Italian lawyer and scholar, who has held the position since 2022, argues that India's expanding relationship with Israel carries legal consequences during the conflict in Gaza.

Asked about New Delhi's responsibilities, Albanese said India was "violating its obligations" and could soon be "facing responsibility" for its actions. Her warning concerns possible responsibility connected to alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including through military supplies and strategic cooperation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's February state visit to Israel sharpened her criticism. Modi addressed the Knesset, Israel's parliament, celebrated the countries' cultural, political and military relationship, and agreed to upgrade ties through a Special Strategic Partnership. The visit occurred just days before the current regional war with Iran.

Albanese's accusation is a direct challenge to the foreign policy of the world's largest democracy. Her argument brings together three developments: documented abuse of Palestinians, international court proceedings concerning Israel, and India's decision to deepen its partnership with the Israeli government. At its centre is a practical question about responsibility: what obligations does a country have when its weapons, trade or political support may help another country continue unlawful conduct?

Albanese argues that those obligations extend beyond the country carrying out the alleged abuses. Her warning concerns states that provide assistance and officials who approve it, as well as companies involved in supplying equipment or services.

What Torture and Genocide Describes

Torture and Genocide examines conditions in Palestinian territories since October 2023. Albanese concludes that Israeli authorities have turned Gaza into a "vast torture camp", using violence to break Palestinian resistance, dignity and sumud, an Arabic term meaning steadfastness.

The report records more than 18,500 Palestinian arrests, including approximately 1,500 children, and over 4,000 cases of enforced disappearance. Enforced disappearance means that people are taken into custody while their fate or whereabouts are concealed, leaving families unable to find them or seek protection for them.

Albanese describes beatings, sexual assault, medical neglect and psychological abuse affecting doctors, journalists, activists and human rights defenders. More than 50 staff members of UNRWA, the UN agency serving Palestinian refugees, were reportedly tortured. Many were questioned specifically about their humanitarian work.

Surveillance is another part of the report's account. Facial recognition checkpoints and drones are described as tools for controlling movement and space. Albanese argues that their effects reach beyond detention facilities, creating fear during ordinary daily activities.

Her central claim is that torture is integral to a wider system of violence associated with the occupation. She links the alleged abuses to apartheid, settler colonialism and an economy organised around dominating, dispossessing and erasing Palestinians from their land.

Albanese argues that the scale and nature of the conduct meet the legal threshold for genocide. That is her assessment as the special rapporteur. The genocide proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice remain ongoing, with the court having issued provisional measures ordering Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza.

Why Modi's Visit Matters to the Warning

Modi's February visit gave public expression to India's strategic alignment with Israel. His Knesset address celebrated cooperation across culture, politics and defence, while the Special Strategic Partnership formalised a closer relationship.

Albanese criticised the timing because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court. She also pointed to the International Court of Justice's finding that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and must end.

The two courts have different roles. The International Court of Justice deals with legal questions involving states. The International Criminal Court considers criminal responsibility of individuals. Albanese's warning reaches both levels: possible responsibility for India as a state and possible criminal liability for people who authorise military support.

Complicity is the concept connecting these concerns. In simple terms, it concerns assistance to someone else's unlawful conduct, rather than carrying out that conduct directly. Albanese argues that strategic partnerships and military supply relationships can create legal exposure when they support a state accused of international crimes.

Her criticism therefore reaches beyond the symbolism of a diplomatic visit. She treats political endorsement, commercial relationships and military cooperation as connected parts of the support that enables Israel's actions.

The Court Decisions Behind Her Argument

The International Court of Justice's 2024 advisory opinion found Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful. Albanese invokes that finding to argue that other states have responsibilities to avoid supporting the occupation and to help bring it to an end.

The legal argument also concerns the Fourth Geneva Convention and restrictions on transferring civilians into occupied territory. Article III is cited in the account of the allegations in connection with those restrictions.

Albanese described what she believes the court's findings require of other governments:

The legal responsibilities are clear. The International Court of Justice has declared the occupation illegal and imposed an obligation on states not to trade, not to transfer weapons, and not to buy weapons from a state accused of maintaining an illegal occupation.

That statement sets out Albanese's interpretation of the duties arising from the occupation ruling. She is calling for a broad break in military and commercial cooperation, including full arms embargoes and the suspension of trade agreements.

The Genocide Convention adds another strand to her argument. States have duties to prevent and punish genocide, alongside the duty to refrain from committing it. Albanese argues that governments must also avoid assistance that enables or encourages genocidal conduct by another state.

The ICJ's provisional measures in the Gaza case are orders issued while proceedings continue. They direct Israel to prevent genocidal acts. Albanese sees those proceedings, together with the occupation finding, as grounds for governments to reassess their relationships with Israel.

No date for a legal proceeding against India, or for a decision on India's responsibility, was given in her warning.

Indian Military Exports and the Supreme Court

Indian companies reportedly exported rockets, explosives, rocket motors and other military hardware to Israel during the Gaza war. Investigations published in June 2024 described those shipments continuing while the conflict was under way.

India was described as becoming a significant supplier as some Western governments faced domestic pressure to restrict arms deliveries. Albanese's argument places such exports within a wider debate about whether supplying weapons creates responsibility for their use.

India's Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to stop military exports to Israel during the Gaza siege. The court declined to intervene in what it treated as a foreign policy matter. Albanese argues that the duties arising under international law continue regardless of a domestic court's reluctance to intervene.

Her report also states that 85,000 tons of bombs, described as six times the amount dropped on Hiroshima, have been unleashed on Gaza. It discusses targeting technology and delivery systems potentially supplied by international partners, placing military suppliers within its wider argument about state and corporate complicity.

The report's discussion extends across international suppliers rather than focusing exclusively on India. For New Delhi, the warning concerns both the alleged shipments during the war and the continued strengthening of its military relationship with Israel.

The main developments span several dates:

• Since October 2023: the period covered by Albanese's findings on torture and other abuses against Palestinians.
• June 2024: investigations described continuing exports of Indian military equipment to Israel.
• 2024: the International Court of Justice found Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful.
• February 2026: Modi visited Israel, addressed the Knesset and upgraded bilateral ties through a Special Strategic Partnership.
• March 23, 2026: Albanese presented Torture and Genocide to the Human Rights Council's 61st session.

Companies and Officials Face Her Scrutiny

Albanese identifies 48 corporate actors across weapons manufacturing, technology, finance and construction that she says failed to use their influence to end violations. Her argument connects the supply of weapons with the services, investment and infrastructure that sustain the broader system described in her report.

Albanese rejects the idea that companies can address their responsibilities through narrow technical arguments while leaving their relationships with the occupation intact. Explaining her view of corporate responsibility, she said:

Corporate actors cannot claim neutrality. They are either part of the machinery of displacement or part of dismantling it.

Governments, in her account, face similar duties to disengage from relationships that enable continuing crimes. Her call for arms embargoes and suspended trade agreements is intended to interrupt those relationships rather than merely express diplomatic disapproval.

Albanese also pointed to legal action in Italy against government officials accused of complicity in genocide. She said the risks can extend to people who approve assistance, describing "criminal liability for individuals who authorise this kind of endeavour".

Her warning separates two forms of accountability. A state may face responsibility for its conduct under international law, while an individual may face allegations of criminal wrongdoing. She argues that ministers and other officials authorising military support should take both possibilities into account.

India's History Shapes Her Criticism

India's history of resistance to colonial rule is central to Albanese's moral criticism. She connected that history with the formation of Israel and the experience of Palestinians under British rule.

Albanese explained the comparison in these words:

India and historical Palestine have one thing in common: their territorial formations have been shaped by British colonial rule.

She described Israel's creation inside Palestine in the context of British colonisation and contrasted it with India's prolonged struggle for independence. Both countries, she argued, have responsibilities as UN members to uphold the international system that developed through decolonisation.

Albanese credited India with helping shape international law during that period and playing a major role in making decolonisation possible. Against that history, she called India's present alignment with Israel "troubling".

Explaining why she regarded the relationship as a departure from that legacy, Albanese said:

It seems to me that there is a betrayal of that past in India's association with Israel.

She said India's leaders appeared to have "turned to the other side". Her criticism is directed at the gap she sees between India's historical role in opposing colonial domination and its present strategic choices.

Albanese also accused Donald Trump and Netanyahu of "twisting the arm of the system, making lawlessness so widespread that it has become contagious". She portrayed India and Israel as contributing to the deterioration of an international order built through earlier generations' struggles.

US Sanctions and the Cost to Albanese

The United States Department of the Treasury designated Albanese as a "specially designated national", freezing her assets and prohibiting US citizens and corporations from dealing with her. She was described as the first UN official subjected to such sanctions, a designation also applied to figures including Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad.

Albanese called the experience "civil death". She said the restrictions had affected her ability to hold bank accounts and make transfers even outside the United States. Her email addresses were shut down, and academic relationships with Georgetown and Columbia universities were severed.

She described potential fines of up to $1 million for people providing goods or services to her and potential imprisonment of up to 20 years for family members. Her account presents the sanctions as restrictions reaching far beyond her professional work.

Albanese spoke about the effect on her family and the reason she continues in the role:

I am making a significant sacrifice, and so is my family. I have two young children whom I see far too little. I am choosing this because I believe the children of Palestinians, Israelis, Indians, Congolese, and Sudanese are as deserving of the quiet, safe home I once had as I am.

Her daughter, aged 13 and an American citizen, has initiated legal proceedings against the US President, Secretary of State and Attorney General to challenge the sanctions. Albanese said she continued to trust the justice system despite the difficulty of the legal battle.

Albanese also said she had faced severe accusations for carrying out her work investigating Israel's conduct. She argued that Israel had been successful in conflating antisemitism with anti-Zionism, with criticism of Israel consequently labelled antisemitic. Antisemitism means hostility or prejudice against Jewish people; anti-Zionism concerns opposition to Zionism as a political project.

Her Appeal to Citizens in India and Italy

Italy offered Albanese an example of public pressure affecting government policy. She said sustained action by citizens had pushed the government to announce a suspension of its defence agreement with Israel.

Italian ministers, she said, now face legal proceedings alleging complicity in genocide, alongside the prospect of electoral defeat over their policy on Palestine. She presented public mobilisation, legal action and elections as connected ways of holding governments accountable.

Albanese urged people in India to question their government's position. Acknowledging that Indian civil society had continued to speak out for Palestine and Gaza, she said:

I would like the people of India to also speak out strongly on this issue and question their government.

Her appeal links domestic political choices with the wider international response to Gaza. She argues that citizens can press governments to change military and commercial relationships, rather than leaving those decisions entirely to officials.

Albanese described the moment as a global reckoning, saying:

Palestine is a mirror held up to the world's moral and political failures.

She recalled historical reckoning over corporate involvement in apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany. In her view, Palestine presents another test of whether markets can operate without promoting injustice or profiting from it.

Albanese concluded that ending what she describes as genocide requires outrage to become action: a rupture with the relationships that sustain it, a reckoning with responsibility, and the courage to dismantle enabling structures. Despite the sanctions and the personal cost, she expressed optimism that a growing global conscience against the violence could accelerate movement towards justice.

What to Know

• Francesca Albanese accuses India of breaching international obligations through military and political support for Israel.
• Her Torture and Genocide report records more than 18,500 Palestinian arrests, about 1,500 children detained and over 4,000 cases of enforced disappearance since October 2023.
• Modi's February 2026 visit to Israel resulted in a Special Strategic Partnership and included an address to the Knesset.
• Albanese bases her warning on the ICJ's finding that Israel's occupation is unlawful, its Gaza provisional measures and duties under the Genocide Convention.
• Indian companies reportedly supplied military equipment during the war; India's Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to halt exports.
• Albanese calls for arms embargoes and suspended trade agreements, and warns of possible responsibility for states, companies and officials.
• US sanctions have restricted Albanese's financial and professional activities; her daughter has initiated a legal challenge.
• Albanese urges Indian citizens to press their government, citing public pressure and legal action in Italy.