By Nour Abuaisha
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Hamas demanded international judicial institutions on Wednesday to take legal action against US Secretary of State Antony Blinken following revelations from an American website on his concealment of Israel's starvation tactics against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian resistance group referenced In a statement a report from ProPublica, which claimed that Blinken, in collusion with US President Joe Biden, intentionally hid the truth about Israel's starvation of Palestinians and obstruction of aid to Gaza before Congress to avoid affecting arms supplies to Israel.
“This criminal behavior by Blinken necessitates investigation by honorable members of the US Congress and American judicial bodies,” said the group.
Hamas said Blinken's actions have led to the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, “either through direct violence with American weapons or through complicity in Israel's starvation policies, violating basic principles of international humanitarian law.”
It urged international judicial institutions, particularly the International Criminal Court (ICC), to take the reports seriously and pursue legal action against Blinken “for his alleged complicity in the deliberate starvation and extermination of Palestinians in Gaza.”
The reporter by ProPublica's on Tuesday indicated that “Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza.”
It noted that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department’s refugees bureau “delivered their assessment to Secretary of State Antony Blinken in late April.”
The website also pointed out that USAID “had sent Blinken a detailed 17-page memo on Israel’s conduct. The memo described instances of Israeli interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots, and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.”
Despite receiving the memo, Blinken crafted a statement for Congress that claimed, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance.”
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,500 victims, mostly women and children, have since been killed and more than 96,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio