UN: Israel’s ‘continued restrictions’ on Gaza aid ‘may amount to starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime’

A man carries a bag of flour after humanitarian aid was distributed in Gaza City on March 17, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
A man carries a bag of flour after humanitarian aid was distributed in Gaza City on March 17, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Israel’s “continued restrictions” on humanitarian aid for Gaza may amount to a starvation tactic that could be a war crime, the United Nations human rights chief says.

The comments follow a UN-backed report yesterday saying famine is likely by May without an end to fighting in the more than five-month war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people.

“The extent of Israel’s continued restrictions on entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime,” says UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

While aid agencies say Israel is not allowing enough aid into the enclave, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says it is facilitating aid and that the United Nations and relief groups are at fault for issues over the quantity and pace of delivery.

Aid organizations say the Strip must be flooded with food to address the issue.

“Israel, as the occupying power, has the obligation to ensure the provision of food and medical care to the population commensurate with their needs and to facilitate the work of humanitarian organizations to deliver that assistance,” Turk says via spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.

The delivery of aid to Gaza has been a point of contention in Israel’s war against the Hamas regime there, triggered by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, when thousands of terrorists rampaged through southern Israeli communities, killing some 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.

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