The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday demanded that the UN officially declare that the Gaza Strip is in a serious situation of hunger and accused Israel of using the blockade of essential goods and hunger as a policy of genocide.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced, through a statement published on the social network, due to “the genocidal war and the blockade” imposed by the Government of Tel Aviv.
At the same time, the ministry asked the United Nations to hold Israel responsible for the situation and implement, as quickly as possible, measures to reverse the situation.
“The occupying State intends to exterminate our people, not only through brutal bombings, destruction, assassinations and direct executions, but also through extermination by starvation,” denounced the Palestinian Authority.
“Israel is a state of occupation, blockade and apartheid, responsible for all forms of genocide committed against our people, including hunger,” he reiterated.
The same source recalled that there are several reports from international organizations that have echoed this situation, expressing their concern about the serious shortage of resources and food in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli bombings.
“More than half a million people are dying of hunger,” he noted.
Last week, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) also accused the Israeli government of “using civilian starvation as a method of war” in the occupied Gaza Strip, warning that the practice constitutes a war crime.
“Israeli forces are deliberately blocking water, food and fuel supplies, deliberately preventing humanitarian assistance, apparently devastating agricultural areas and depriving civilians of items essential for their survival,” the organization wrote in a statement.
According to HRW, 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 part of the territory had spent at least one day and a night without eating, HRW also stated.
The non-governmental organization 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.
Save the Children made a similar accusation, saying that “deliberately keeping civilians away from food, water and fuel and deliberately preventing supplies from reaching populations is using 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 [Classificação das Fases de Insegurança Alimentar]supported by the UN, reported that almost the entire population suffers from food insecurity and a quarter faces 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, highlighted that this is an “unprecedented situation”, stressing that “never analysis of the CPI recorded such a 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 (around 2.08 million people) faced high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as Phase 3 or higher CPI (crisis or worse). .
Among them, more than 40% of the population (939,000 people) were in an emergency situation (PCI Phase 4) and more than 15% (378,000 people) were in a disaster situation (PCI Phase 5).
The CPI scales are currently used in 30 countries, some of which are facing the world’s worst food crises.
Source: TSF
