Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Israeli government on Monday of “using the starvation of civilians as a method of war” in the occupied Gaza Strip, which constitutes a war crime.
“Israeli forces deliberately block water, food and fuel supplies, deliberately prevent humanitarian assistance, apparently devastate agricultural areas and deprive civilians of items essential for their survival,” the non-governmental organization (NGO) wrote in a statement. sent to Lusa.
HRW noted that since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Israeli politicians, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Energy Minister Israel Katz, have “made public statements expressing the goal of depriving civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel.”
Statements that reflect “a policy that the Israeli forces are carrying out,” the note states.
“For more than two months, Israel has been depriving the people of Gaza of food and water, a policy encouraged or supported by senior Israeli officials and which reflects the intention to starve civilians as a method of warfare,” said the HRW director for Israel and Palestine, Omar Shakir.
In this sense, the official called on world leaders to speak out “against this abominable war crime, which has devastating effects on the population of Gaza.”
HRW interviewed 11 displaced Palestinians in Gaza between November 24 and December 4. These, according to the statement, described “profound difficulties in guaranteeing basic needs.”
“We had no food, no electricity, no Internet, nothing,” said a man who left northern Gaza, the area most bombed by the Israeli army since the conflict broke out on October 7.
In the southern Gaza Strip, interviewees told the NGO about the shortage of drinking water, the lack of food and exorbitant prices.
“We are constantly looking for the goods we need to survive,” said a man, father of two children.
The United Nations World Food Program reported on December 6 that nine out of 10 households in the northern Gaza Strip and two out of three households in the southern Gaza Strip had spent at least one day and one night without food. , also cited by HRW.
International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, the declaration further states, “prohibits starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.”
The NGO also recalled that, “before the recent hostilities”, it was already estimated that 1.2 million of the 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip were in a situation of acute food insecurity and more than 80% depended on humanitarian aid.
“Israel maintains overall control over Gaza, including the movement of people and goods, territorial waters, airspace, the infrastructure on which Gaza depends, as well as population registration. This leaves the population of Gaza, who “Israel has been under an illegal blockade for 16 years, relying almost entirely on Israel for access to fuel, electricity, medicine, food and other essential goods,” he declared.
The note calls on Tel Aviv to “immediately stop using civilian starvation as a method of war”, respect the ban on attacking goods essential for the survival of the civilian population, and lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip.”
“The Government must restore access to water and electricity and allow desperately needed food, medical aid and fuel to enter Gaza, including through the Kerem Shalom crossing,” the border between Israel, Egypt and Gaza, he appealed. .
HRW also called on several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, to “suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel as long as its forces continue to commit widespread and serious abuses that amount to crimes with impunity.” war against civilians.”
Since the war began on October 7, around 19,000 Gazans have died as a result of Israeli bombing and fighting, including nearly 8,000 children, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement. Hamas since 2007.
The Hamas attack on Israeli soil caused 1,140 deaths, according to the latest figures provided by the Israeli authorities.
Source: TSF
