Israel using starvation as means of war to drive people out of Gaza: Head of rights monitor

By Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

GENEVA (AA) - Israel is using “starvation as a means of war” to drive people out of Gaza or even kill them, according to the chairperson of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

Ramy Abdu told Anadolu about the famine in Gaza, which is under relentless Israeli attacks and blockade, and the difficult conditions faced by Gazans.

He said that people could not cook due to the large-scale food shortage in the Gaza Strip, noting that while an average of 500 truckloads of aid entered the region daily before the start of the ongoing Israeli war, this number is currently 100 at trucks or less.

Abdu said: "We can speak about maybe 50 to 100 trucks that arrived in northern Gaza during the last 100 days at least and a severe hunger in this area (northern Gaza).”

He said there is “severe hunger” and a “shortage in everything” in the region. “The people are starving, really starving in this area.”

“More than half a million Palestinians here are suffering very harsh conditions of winter, and a very harsh condition of the shortage of food supplies,” Abdu added.

Recalling the statement of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that aid organizations cannot supply food to the whole of Gaza, he stressed that they have confirmed that there are no aid organizations in northern Gaza.

- Children 'most-affected' group

Abdu said that more than half of Gaza residents are facing “critical levels of hunger.”

“All of North area residents are suffering from severe and harsh conditions of famine,” he said, adding: “In general, we are talking about more than 75% of Palestinians in Gaza who are suffering from severe levels of hunger.”
“There is no increase in the food supplies and the trucks that are allowed to get into Gaza,” he stated.

Abdu said that Israeli soldiers opened fire on those trying to reach food trucks that entered from the south to northern Gaza in small numbers, adding that they had documented that dozens of people lost their lives because of this.

"We are talking about 'intentional starvation', particularly in the north area,” he warned.

Children are the “most affected” population by this condition “because they don't have the needed food,” said the head of the rights monitor.

He said: “Most of the infants need milk. There is no milk getting inside Gaza, there is no medicine, there are no medical supplies at all, and even the nutrition supplies.”

“Women can barely cope with this situation,” he said, adding that they don't eat themselves and give the food to their children.

- ‘Genocide’

Abdu stressed that Israel has committed “genocide” in the Strip.

"Israel is using starvation as a means of war to expel Gazans out of Gaza and even to kill them,” he warned.

“The other element is the mass killing and we see now the human cost,” the official emphasized. “This is the highest human cost ever in any war.”

“We are talking about 4.5% of Gaza people either were killed or injured or lost,” he stated.

“The third element is the explosions and displacing the people of Gaza,” Abdu said.

Abdu expressed hope that last week’s International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision “will deter the Israeli plans to expel the people but unfortunately during the last 72 hours, we followed up the situation on the ground closely and we found that Israel keeps the same level of killing.”

Stressing that Israel also continues to destroy dozens of residential areas, Abdu said, adding that the country even minimizes the entry of food trucks into Gaza and continues to systematically massacre people by moving them away from the north of Gaza.

The official further underscored that the UN and international organizations should not comply with Israel's directives and put pressure on Tel Aviv.

He called on the international community to act together, pointing out the importance of speaking with "one voice" so that they can create real pressure on the Israeli side.

Since Oct. 7, the Israeli army has been waging a destructive war on Gaza, leaving until Tuesday 26,751 dead and 65,636 wounded, most of them children and women, according to Palestinian authorities.

*Writing by Merve Berker