The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday demanded that the UN officially declare that the Gaza Strip is in a serious hunger situation and accused Israel of using the blockade of essential goods and hunger as a policy of genocide.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced this in a statement published on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Famine is part of Israel’s policy and has asked the United Nations to officially declare that the Gaza Strip is suffering from a situation of severe famine due to “the genocidal war and the blockade” imposed by the Tel Aviv government.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expats // The #famine in the Gaza Strip is one #Israeli policy to complete the genocide against our people
– The ministry calls on the United Nations to officially announce the spread of famine in the Gaza Strip as a result of the war #genocide… pic.twitter.com/jJ1jkWzkXR
– State of Palestine – MFA (@pmofa) December 26, 2023
At the same time, the ministry called on the United Nations to hold Israel accountable for the situation and implement measures as quickly as possible to reverse the situation.
“The occupying state intends to exterminate our people, not only through brutal bombing, destruction, killings and direct executions, but also through extermination through starvation.” denounced the Palestinian Authority.
“Israel is a state of occupation, blockade and ‘apartheid’, responsible for all forms of genocide against our people, including hunger,” he reiterated.
The same source recalled that there are several reports from international organizations that reflect this situation and express concern about the serious shortage of resources and food in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli bombardments.
“More than half a million people are dying of hunger,” he stressed.
Last week, human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) also accused the Israeli government of “using starvation of civilians as a method of war” in the occupied Gaza Strip, warning that the practice constitutes a war crime.
“Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the supply of water, food and fuel, deliberately preventing humanitarian aid, apparently crippling agricultural areas and depriving the civilian population of items essential to their survival,” the organization wrote in a statement.
According to HRW, the United Nations World Food Program reported on December 6 that nine in 10 households in the north of the Gaza Strip and two in three households in the south of the territory had spent at least one day and one night without food, HRW also said .
The non-governmental organization also recalled that “before the recent hostilities” it was already estimated that 1.2 million of the Gaza Strip’s 2.2 million residents were in a situation of acute food insecurity and that more than 80% were dependent of humanitarian aid.
A similar accusation was made by Save the Children, according to which “deliberately depriving the civilian population of food, water and fuel and deliberately preventing supplies from reaching the population uses hunger as a weapon of war”.
The non-governmental organization cited several cases of children and families without access to water, shelter and food for days, arguing that “hunger should never be used as a method of war.”
On Friday, the European Union said it was “deeply shocked” by the famine in Gaza, where the IPC initiative took place [Classificação das Fases de Insegurança Alimentar]backed by the UN, reported that almost the entire population is food insecure and a quarter are facing a catastrophic situation.
In a joint statement, the head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, and the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, stressed that this is an “unprecedented situation”. levels of food insecurity anywhere in the world”.
According to the IPC initiative, between November 24 and December 7, more than 90% of the population of the Gaza Strip (approximately 2.08 million people) faced high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 or higher (crisis or worse) . .
Of these, more than 40% of the population (939,000 people) were in an emergency situation (IPC phase 4) and more than 15% (378,000 people) in a disaster situation (IPC phase 5).
The CPI scales are currently used in 30 countries, some of which are experiencing the world’s worst food crises.
Source: DN
