UN human rights experts said that "Israel is destroying Gazas food system and using food as a weapon" for more than 100 days during its aggression in the Gaza Strip.
Gazans now make up 80% of all people facing famine or catastrophic hunger worldwide, amid Israels continued bombardment and siege, according to UN experts.
The experts pointed out in a press release that all people in Gaza are now hungry, 25% of the population faces catastrophic levels of hunger and struggles to find food and drinking water, and famine is imminent.
The experts affirmed that no where is safe in Gaza, and since Oct. 9, 2023 Israel declared and imposed a "total siege" on Gaza, depriving 2.3 million Palestinians of water, food, fuel, medicine, and medical supplies. This is against the backdrop of a 17-year Israeli blockade, which before this war made approximately half of the people in Gaza food insecure and more than 80% reliant on humanitarian aid.
The experts said, "it is unprecedented to make an entire civilian population go hungry this completely and quickly. Israel is destroying Gazas food system and using food as a weapon against the Palestinian people," pointing out that the Israeli entity is destroying and blocking access to farmland and the sea.
Experts quoted reports that the Israeli entity destroyed approximately 70% of Gazas fishing fleet, and has also destroyed more than 60% of Palestinian homes in Gaza
"We have raised the alarm of the risk of genocide several times reminding all governments they have a duty to prevent genocide. Not only is Israel killing and causing irreparable harm against Palestinian civilians with its indiscriminate bombardments, it is also knowingly and intentionally imposing a high rate of disease, prolonged malnutrition, dehydration, and starvation by destroying civilian infrastructure," said the experts.
"Aid needs to be delivered to Gazans immediately and without any hindrance to prevent starvation," the experts stressed.
"Our alarm for the unfolding genocide does not only refer to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza but also concerns the slow suffering and death caused by Israels long-standing occupation, blockade and current civic destruction, since genocide advances through an ongoing process and is not a singular event," the experts said.
The experts concluded their press release by saying that "the clear path to achieving peace, safety, and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians lies in the realization of Palestinian self-determination. This can only be achieved through an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of the Israeli occupation". (QNA)
