'Israel' using starvation tactic in Gaza to destroy food system: UN
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After an eight-day expedition to the south of the besieged strip, the deputy director of Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion (HI) tells AFP he was still "stunned" at the worst situation he has seen in his life.
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Palestinian children anxiously wait to receive food in Rafah, Gaza, on February 16. (AP)
A UN expert on Thursday argued that the Israeli occupation was destroying Gaza's food system as part of a larger "starvation campaign".
According to Reuters, in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, asserted that the UN was "doing nothing" as "unbearable" images surfaced from Gaza.
Aid authorities have warned of a potential famine, while hospitals in the besieged Strip's remote northern region report that children are dying of starvation.
Fakhri told the council that "Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza," adding that this included fishermen.
Read more: Famine in Gaza causing women to give birth to stillborn babies
Yeela Cytrin, a legal advisor at the Israeli mission to the UN, referred to the accusations as "blatant lies", rejecting them and walking out of the session in protest.
Fakhri is one of dozens of independent human rights experts appointed by the UN to report and advise on specific issues and crises. He explained in his statement that "Israel" targets small-scale fishermen by denying them access to the sea and damaging their boats and shacks.
Around 80% of Gaza's fishing sector has been damaged since October 7, he added, adding that Israeli soldiers had smashed every boat in Gaza City's major port. He called on member nations to consider sanctions against the occupation and end military aid.
"This is on your watch. Please turn your words into action," he said.
Veteran aid worker says Gaza crisis 'worst' of his career
Veteran relief worker Jean-Pierre Delomier said he has seen it all when it comes to reacting to conflicts and disasters throughout the world over the years, but the Gaza war is by far "the worst".
After an eight-day expedition to the south of the besieged Strip, the deputy director of Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion (HI) told AFP he was "stunned," explaining that he had never experienced a "bombardment of an extremely densely populated and closed-off area, and a near-complete lack of access for humanitarian aid" before.
Delomier recalled that he saw "kilometers of trucks queueing on four lanes, all waiting to get into Gaza," stressing that while planes drop "a few pallets" there are kilometers of pallets "just behind".
He expressed that what he saw in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s was "incomparable" to what he saw in Gaza since it was a "mousetrap, with only a trickle of aid."
What was taking place in the Strip was, according to him, the "worst I have ever seen."
Delomier remarked that working in Rafah, there was a "constant buzzing of drones" overhead during the day and night, expressing that not only was he still in shock but he was "outraged".
Further north, things are significantly worse, and some inhabitants have been forced to consume animal feed.
The United Nations on Tuesday urged the international community to "flood" Gaza with supplies, following allegations that children are dying of famine.
20 Palestinians killed by malnutrition, dehydration: Palestinian MoH
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, stated yesterday that a 15-year-old Palestinian child in Al-Shifa Hospital has died due to malnutrition and dehydration.
He added that a 72-year-old Palestinian man was also martyred in Kamal Adwan Hospital north of Gaza due to the same reason.
Al-Qudra stated that the total number of Palestinians killed by malnutrition and dehydration has risen to 20, adding that this reflects the truth behind the level of aid delivered to hospitals.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported on Thursday that 30,800 Palestinians have been killed and 72,289 wounded by the Israeli occupation as the ongoing genocide hits its 153th day.
The Ministry said that "Israel" has committed 9 massacres, killing 83 Palestinians and wounding 142 in 24 hours only. It added that many Palestinians remain under the rubble while the Israeli military is preventing medical and civil defense teams from reaching bombed sites to rescue them or pull their bodies from beneath the debris.
