Germany warns Israel against using hunger as weapon of war in Gaza

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Monday warned Israel against using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

“Hunger must never be used as a weapon and that is why, among other things, we are committed to ensuring that more humanitarian aid comes to the Gaza Strip,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said at a press briefing in Berlin.

Berlin also “expects Israel to finally contribute by letting in more aid to the Gaza Strip,” he added.

Fischer’s remarks came in response to a reporter’s question about a statement by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell who warned earlier in the day in Brussels that Israel is “using starvation as a weapon of war.”

“In Gaza, we are no longer on the brink of a famine, we are in a state of famine,” Borrell said.

On Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Israel for its war starvation tactics in Gaza.“We cannot stand by and watch Palestinians risk starvation. That’s not us; that is not what we stand for together. Much more humanitarian aid is needed continuously, reliably,” Scholz said in Jerusalem.

“The provision of aid from Israel into Gaza and the conditions for distribution into Gaza must be urgently and massively improved,” he stressed.

Last week, Germany became one of the growing number of countries to airdrop food supplies into the war-ravaged enclave.

Israel has waged a brutal military offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 31,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in the enclave, and nearly 73,800 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.