Dec 4, 2023
Geneva – Israel has expanded its total ban on humanitarian supplies entering large areas of the Gaza Strip as part of its ongoing genocide, waged since 7 October, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Monday in a statement emphasising Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon against civilians.
Although allowed into the Gaza Strip in small amounts, humanitarian supplies over the past two days have beenconfined almost entirely to the Rafah Governorate in the extreme south of the Strip. These supplies have included sparse distributions of aid, mostly water and flour. The humanitarian aid to the neighbouring Khan Yunis Governorate, however, was halted due to Israel’s severe attacks.
Since Israel resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip last Friday following a one-week temporary humanitarian truce, humanitarian supplies have been completely prevented from entering Gaza and its northern areas, which have been isolated by the Israeli army for more than a month now as part of its ground incursions.
According to Euro-Med Monitor, Israel has extended its restrictions on humanitarian aid to encompass over 65% of the Gaza Strip’s total area.
The Israeli orders to evacuate roughly 20% of Khan Yunis City, which is home to over 110,000 people, as well as 21 shelter centres that house roughly 50,000 displaced people—the great majority of whom have already been recently displaced from north Gaza in Israel’s ongoing assault on the Strip—are likewise a cause for deep concern, statedEuro-Med Monitor.
Along with the forced evacuation orders and increasingground incursions in the Khan Yunis Governorate, the Geneva-based organisation warned that Israel would soon be expanding its ban on the entry of humanitarian supplies even further as part of its plan to forcibly displace the people of Gaza.
Israel has been using its starvation campaign as a tool of subjugation since the beginning of its ongoing genocide inthe Gaza Strip. This campaign includes bombing and destroying bakeries, factories, grocery stores, water stations, and tanks, in addition to cutting off all food supplies.
Since the start of the genocide, Israel has imposed a complete closure on the Gaza Strip, halting the delivery ofall food, water, electricity, and fuel supplies. Israel initiallyprohibited humanitarian aid services for Palestinians in the northern parts of Gaza City and its surrounding areas, and later broadened the purview of this ban, taking advantage of the passivity of international and humanitarian groups.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stressed that, as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is prohibited from using starvation and cutting off humanitarian supplies as a tool of war, and is required by international humanitarian law to protect and meet the needs of the people living there.
The human rights group called for swift international action to impose a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stop the situation from degenerating further by allowing all residents fair and unrestricted access to basic and relief supplies, i.e. by ensuring that fuel, food, water, medical supplies, and other necessities are readily available.
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