A number of top UN experts have concluded that Israel is deliberately trying to starve the Palestinian people in Gaza to death – and that this amounts to a form of elaborate genocide.
“When the first child dies from malnutrition and dehydration, it becomes irrefutable that famine has taken hold”, the report states.
The group of experts, which has extensive experience in conflict zones, famine and internal displacement, points out that the number of Palestinian children dying of hunger and malnutrition has risen sharply and that today “there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza into central and southern Gaza”.
Citing several examples of deaths ranging from infants to teenagers from starvation or lack of medical care, the report says Gaza’s health and social structures have been “critically attacked and weakened”.
“We declare that Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza. We call upon the international community to prioritise the delivery of humanitarian aid by land by any means necessary, end Israel’s siege, and establish a ceasefire”, it said.
“When a 2-month-old baby and 10-year-old Yazan Al Kafarneh died of hunger on 24 February and 4 March respectively, this confirmed that famine had struck northern Gaza. The whole world should have intervened earlier to stop Israel’s genocidal starvation campaign and prevented these deaths”, the group of experts added.
At least 34 Palestinians have been confirmed dead of starvation or malnutrition since the invasion began – most of them children.
“Inaction is complicity”, they conclude.