GENEVA
– On Tuesday, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor documented the
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) use of
artillery shells against hundreds of starving civilians who gathered waiting
for UN trucks carrying limited aid supplies on
Salah Al-Din Road near the
Kuwait roundabout, southeast of Gaza City, killing and injuring a number of
them. The IOF used artillery shells, live ammunition, and
quadcopter drones to
attack hundreds of
starving civilians who had gathered in the hopes of
receiving meager aid.
اضافة اعلان
The
human rights group further pointed out that Israel has not only used starvation
as a tool of war against Palestinians in the northern Gaza Valley for more than
three consecutive months now but has targeted Gazans trying to secure some of
the limited aid supplies that began arriving about 10 days ago, killing and
injuring many of them as part of its
genocidal war against civilians in the
Strip.
“My
five children have been starving for more than a month, and we do not have any
flour,” stated 46-year-old M.F., who requested anonymity due to safety
concerns. “We eat a small amount of rice each day, so when I learned that flour
aid was available, I walked for 13km before the [IOF] opened their machine
gunfire. We were hit by shells fired, resulting in several casualties. I
managed to survive without receiving any flour.”
Approximately
400,000 Palestinians remain in the northern Gaza Valley, according to Euro-Med
Monitor, suffering from a man-made famine as a result of Israel’s oppressive
siege and refusal to allow any relief aid to enter the area since December 1,
2023. Some people have even been forced to grind animal feed and mix it with
corn to knead and eat it, while others have been forced to eat tree leaves.
Euro-Med Monitor emphasized that the information gathered by its field team verifies
Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war. This is akin to genocide, and
immediate action is needed to ensure that Palestinians can access food, water,
and other necessities without hindrance, intimidation, or targeting.
The
rights organization said that it holds the UN and its humanitarian agencies responsible for the shortcomings and inability to deliver humanitarian aid in a
decent and appropriate manner to hundreds of thousands of people who have been
suffering from real famine for nearly four full months in a row now. Euro-Med
Monitor also expressed outrage at the UN’s silence regarding the IOF’s
targeting of civilians while they were trying to receive aid supplies.
The
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor emphasized that it is illegal under international
humanitarian law to use starvation as a weapon. As an occupying power, Israel
is required by law to provide for the basic needs and protection of the Gazan
people. Furthermore, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
provides that intentionally starving civilians by “depriving them of objects
indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies,”
is a war crime.
The
monitor stated that Israel has been committing acts of genocide against the
civilian population of the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, according to the
Rome Statute of the ICC, the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide, and pertinent international judicial rulings.
Israel’s crimes include depriving the civilian population of enough potable
water, which has caused serious, intentional harm and trapped them in living
conditions meant to destroy them.
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