Occupation use of starvation for warfare is a war
crime, Witness says
A call to Security Council to
enforce ICJ decisions of Israel
The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness) warns of the
increasing hunger rates in Gaza after Israeli intensifying blockade on the city
as food security crisis exacerbates in middle and southern Gaza in terms of
forced Israeli displacement of around one million of the population from Rafah
since May 6th.
In Gaza and northern Gaza Strip, 40 children have died due to famine,
drought, and malnutrition. Residents are experiencing severe shortages of food
and vegetables because of the ongoing Israeli blockade of
border crossings, preventing trucks from entering the northern region.
On June 7th, UNICEF reported that 9 out of 10 children in
Gaza are suffering from severe food shortages, and malnutrition is increasing
the threat of death in the region.
On June 12th, Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, predicted that by
mid-July, half of Gaza's population could face death and famine.
(Witness) affirms that since day one of the war, Gaza Strip has been
facing a persistent hunger crisis which has escalated due to the closure of
Gaza Strip border crossings and the intensified blockade, especially following
the control of Rafah crossing on May 7,2024.
There has been a deliberate targeting by occupation forces of essential
municipal and healthcare services, including hospitals, undermining their
ability to deliver healthcare. This obstruction hampers efforts to combat
famine and malnutrition, resulting in a rise in starvation-related deaths.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) has reported a severe breakdown in the food supply chain. Reports
highlight extensive damage to agricultural lands, plastic greenhouses, and
agricultural structures during April and May.
UN missions have evaluated that hundreds of thousands of displaced
people in southern Gaza are facing challenges in accessing shelter, healthcare,
water, and sanitation facilities.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicates that 57 percent of
agricultural lands in Gaza have been damaged.
These systematic breaches of the rules of war, particularly the 1949
Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Protocols, are categorized as war crimes
under the Rome Statute, involving individual criminal accountability for
investigation and prosecution.
Article 8 of International Criminal Court ICC statute states that
"intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by
depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully
impeding relief supplies" is a war crime.
The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness) calls upon the
international community, especially the UN Security Council and General
Assembly, to compel Israel to end its policy of starvation and to enforce a
ceasefire in Gaza. It urges Israel to adhere to the decisions of the
International Court of Justice ICJ, which have imposed provisional measures to
prevent the crime of genocide, including the provision of necessary
humanitarian aid.
(Witness) also urges the High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to compel Israel, as an occupying
power, to fulfill all its obligations under Articles 55 and 56 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention. Additionally, it calls for pressure on the occupying state
to open the Rafah border crossing and to provide more humanitarian crossings to
facilitate the work of international humanitarian organizations in delivering
the required quantities of food and medicine to the population in Gaza, especially
in Gaza City and its northern areas.
Beirut
June 22, 2024
The Palestinian Association for Human
Rights (Witness)