CORRECTION - 'Pressure should be exerted on Israel to halt arms sales,' says ex-Human Rights Watch chief

CLARIFIES THAT ROTH CALLS FOR END TO ARMS SALES TO ISRAEL, BUT DOES NOT CALL FOR ECONOMIC BOYCOTT; OTHER CHANGES THROUGHOUT

By Busranur Koca

ANKARA (AA) - Kenneth Roth, a former executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said pressure should be exerted to halt military aid and arms sales to the Israeli government.

"Israel must provide information to the court by Feb. 23. It's unclear how they will defend themselves because they have not complied with the court's decision so far," Roth said in an interview with Anadolu.

He was referring to an International Court of Justice Jan. 26 order for Israel to take "immediate and effective" measures to enable the provision of urgently needed services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.

He said: "The issue is not private Israeli companies but the Israeli government. Pressure needs to be put on the Israeli government – through war crimes charges and an end to military aid and arms sales."

- 'Using hunger as a weapon of war'

Roth, who headed Human Rights Watch from 1993 to 2022, said the Israeli government uses "hunger as a weapon of war" by inflicting suffering on Palestinians.

"This is a blatant war crime. It is also inconsistent with the International Court of Justice order in the genocide case that Israel permit adequate humanitarian aid into Gaza, which it is not doing," he said.

Pointing out that approximately 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom have been forcibly displaced from various parts of Gaza, see Rafah as their "last refuge," Roth said: "(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu had said he would develop an evacuation plan before attacking the city, but now he has attacked without any evacuation."

Roth said many are worried about a plan to force Palestinians to go to Egypt following Israel's attacks on Rafah, likening it to the 1948 Nakba, or Catastrophe, when Palestinians were expelled from their lands to make way for an Israeli state.

- Attacks on Rafah latest 'war crimes' by Israel

Roth said the attacks on Rafah, where civilian casualties are very high, are the latest in a series of "war crimes" committed by Israel, including attacks on densely populated areas, targeting health services during emergencies, rendering hospitals dysfunctional, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in Gaza living on the brink of starvation.

He said Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), is conducting an open investigation into the allegations. "We are all eagerly awaiting war crime charges,” he added.

Roth also said that the investigation is increasing pressure on US President Joe Biden to halt or at least condition an annual $3.8 billion in military aid and arms sales to Israel.