UN accuses Israel of “starvation campaign” in Gaza
A UN expert accused Israel of destroying Gaza’s food system in a broader “starvation campaign” on March 7th, according to Reuters.
The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, also berated a UN human rights body for failing to do more to relieve Gazans’ suffering as Israel continues its indiscriminate war on Hamas.
Fakhri, a Lebanese-Canadian law professor, is one of dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations to report and advise on specific themes and crises.
In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, he stated: “The images of starvation in Gaza are unbearable and you are doing nothing.”
Aid officials have warned of an impending famine as the Israel-Gaza war enters its fifth month, while hospitals in isolated northern Gaza claim children to be dying of malnutrition.
READ: UNRWA boss insists Gaza famine can still be avoided
Fakhri told the 47-member council in Geneva that Israel has “mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” including the targeting of small-scale fishermen by denying them access to the sea and destroying boats and shacks.
Around 80% of Gaza’s fishing sector purportedly been destroyed since the conflict began on October 7th, 2023, with every boat in Gaza’s main port having been destroyed, Fakhri said.
He also called on member countries to consider sanctions, arms embargoes, and cutting diplomatic ties with Israel, stating: “This is on your watch. Please turn your words into action.”
The human rights council set up an open-ended UN Commission of Inquiry in 2021, to investigate violations of the Israel-Palestine conflict. It has not, however, passed any new motions since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7th.
Several other countries, including Egypt and Iraq, have criticized Israel for the growing hunger in the enclave.
Legal adviser at the Israeli mission to the UN, Yeela Cytrin, called Fakhri’s allegations a “blatant lie.”
Before walking out in protest, Cytrin told the council that “Israel utterly rejects allegations that it is using starvation as a tool of war.”
READ: Israel blocking visas for Gaza, West Bank aid workers
Israel denies restricting relief into Gaza and has begun working with private contractors to deliver aid. It claims its fight is with Hamas, the Iran-aligned Palestinian militant group whose fighters killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in an October 7th attack on southern Israel.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed on February 29th that over 30,000 people have now been killed, and over 70,000 wounded in Israel’s indiscriminate retaliatory bombardment and invasion of Gaza, according to CNN.
Reuters / CNN
