Michael Fakhri, the United Nations special rapporteur on famine and humanitarian disaster in Gaza, accuses Israel of deliberately starving Palestinians in this blockade.
ALWAGHT- Amidst the harsh and inhumane blockade imposed by the Zionist regime, Gaza is gripped by a widespread famine, with reports of extensive malnutrition among children and the tragic deaths of several children due to starvation sparking reactions worldwide. The website, EUNOMIA, has provided detailed insights into the latest report by Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur addressing the dire food crisis in besieged Gaza.
The report, crafted mere days before the regime's brutal airstrikes targeted non-combatant gatherings around a handful of caravans transporting humanitarian aid, resulting in the deaths of numerous starving individuals, underscores that "there is no legitimate reason for intentionally obstructing the passage of humanitarian aid or deliberately destroying small fishing boats, greenhouses, and gardens in Gaza—except to deprive people of access to food." Intentionally withholding food from people constitutes a clear war crime. Israel has openly declared its intent to annihilate either wholly or partially the Palestinian population solely because of their Palestinian identity. From my perspective as a UN human rights expert, this constitutes a genocidal situation. This underscores that the Israeli government bears collective responsibility and must be held accountable—not solely individual actors or government officials.
According to the United Nations representative, the Zionist regime has been collectively penalizing Gaza's populace since the war's outset, with a notable aspect of this penalty being the severance of food, water, and external fuel supplies. Since then, Israeli forces have methodically demolished Gaza's local food production facilities. Their official statements and actions leave no doubt that their objective is to harm the entire population. Fakhri's recent affirmation echoes what we've observed for months: deliberate starvation imposed by the Israeli government is claiming lives in Gaza.
Christopher Lockyear, Secretary-General of Doctors Without Borders, addressed the United Nations Security Council, detailing the appalling conditions resulting from Israel's campaign and blockade: "This situation epitomizes Israel's war against Gaza's entire population—a punitive war, devoid of rules, a war at any cost. The laws and principles we rely on to provide humanitarian aid have lost their significance."
Lockyear further recounts how MSF personnel and facilities have faced repeated attacks by Zionist military forces. He notes, "Israeli forces assault our convoys, target our hospitals, and conduct raids on our facilities; they detain our staff and demolish our vehicles. One of our staff shelters has been hit for the second time. These attacks reflect either deliberate intent or demonstrate incompetence and disregard."
Philippe Lazzarini, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), issued a warning last week, stating that the organization is teetering on the edge of collapse due to decisions made by the United States and other governments to cease financial assistance. Lazzarini expressed concern, stating, "We are facing the possibility of a significant disaster with far-reaching consequences for regional peace, security, and human rights."
It's worth noting that the United States and other Western governments that opted to withdraw financial support from UNRWA did so based on unverified allegations from Israel regarding the purported involvement of a small number of agency employees in the October 7 attack. The entire population suffers as a result of the wrongful actions attributed to a few individuals. Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur, concludes that governments discontinuing financial aid to UNRWA are complicit in the deliberate starvation of Gaza's inhabitants.
The lack of punishment for Israel's disobedience of the Hague court's ruling
Halting immediate financial assistance, especially based on unverified allegations by the Zionist regime, only amounts to the collective punishment of all Palestinians by these nations. According to the UN rapporteur, "Countries that have ceased this vital support are unquestionably complicit in the starvation of Palestinians."
Despite the International Court of Justice's directive for the Zionist regime to facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid and activate essential services, Amnesty International noted this week that "Israel has failed to take even the most basic steps to comply." Amnesty International reports that the trickle of aid permitted to enter has actually diminished in the weeks following the ICJ ruling. "The Israeli government disregards international laws, assuming it will never face the true consequences for its actions, and thus far, the Biden administration has provided them with reasons to maintain that belief."
Alongside severe hunger resulting from the blockade and destruction of food production, the people of Gaza endure the collapse of the healthcare system, deteriorating public hygiene, and the rapid spread of diseases.
According to The New York Times, leading epidemiologists have projected that the escalation of the Gaza conflict may lead to the deaths of 85,000 Palestinians within the next six months due to injuries, diseases, and lack of medical care, in addition to the roughly 30,000 deaths reported by local authorities since early October. Among those affected are children.
In an article addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the executive director of UNICEF stated, "Presently, we estimate that at least 90% of children under the age of five in Gaza are afflicted with one or more infectious diseases, with 70% experiencing diarrhea in the past two weeks." He points to a 23-fold increase in figures compared to the beginning of 2022. Children in Gaza face heightened vulnerability to disease transmission due to severe malnutrition, and the prevalence of malnutrition has escalated rapidly in Gaza.
Fakhri, during another segment of his interview with The Guardian, remarked, "The level of malnutrition among young children is also staggering. While bombings and direct killings are barbaric, the suffering inflicted by hunger upon children in Gaza is agonizing and appalling."
Fakhri, also serving as a professor of law at Oregon University, asserts, "The repercussions of this will extend over the long term, impacting the populace physically, cognitively, and ethically... All signs point to this being deliberate. Children in Gaza are presently succumbing to starvation. The most vulnerable are the youngest, with reports emerging of infants perishing due to hunger. Among them, a recent casualty was a two-month-old infant named Mahmoud Fatouh. Sadly, he won't be the last.
UNICEF alerts of an imminent 'preventable child mortality explosion' due to starvation. This dreadful and foreseeable consequence constitutes a form of collective punishment for millions. Without cessation of the war and the lifting of the siege, conditions will only deteriorate. The United States occupies a distinct and unprecedented position to halt the war and avert a graver calamity, yet regrettably, our government (the United States) abstains from undertaking necessary measures to prevent its occurrence."
