XPost: or.politics, alt.usage.english, alt.society.liberalism   
   XPost: sci.logic   
   From: void@invalid.noy   
      
   The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of   
   warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.   
   Israeli officials have made public statements expressing their aim to   
   deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel – statements   
   reflected in Israeli forces’ military operations.   
   The Israeli government should not attack objects necessary for the   
   survival of the civilian population, lift its blockade of the Gaza   
   Strip, and restore electricity and water.   
   (Jerusalem) – The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians   
   as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war   
   crime, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces are deliberately   
   blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully   
   impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural   
   areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable   
   to their survival.   
      
   Since Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023,   
   high-ranking Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav   
   Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Energy   
   Minister Israel Katz have made public statements expressing their aim   
   to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel – statements   
   reflecting a policy being carried out by Israeli forces. Other Israeli   
   officials have publicly stated that humanitarian aid to Gaza would be   
   conditioned either on the release of hostages unlawfully held by Hamas   
   or Hamas’ destruction.   
      
   “For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza's population of   
   food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking   
   Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a   
   method of warfare,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at   
   Human Rights Watch. “World leaders should be speaking out against this   
   abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza’s   
   population.”   
      
   Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 displaced Palestinians in Gaza   
   between November 24 and December 4. They described their profound   
   hardships in securing basic necessities. “We had no food, no   
   electricity, no internet, nothing at all,” said one man who had left   
   northern Gaza. “We don’t know how we survived.”   
      
   In southern Gaza, those interviewed described the scarcity of potable   
   water, the lack of food leading to empty shops and lengthy lines, and   
   exorbitant prices. “You are on a constant search for things needed to   
   survive,” said a father of two. The United Nations World Food   
   Programme (WFP) reported on December 6 that 9 out of 10 households in   
   northern Gaza and 2 out of 3 households in southern Gaza had spent at   
   least one full day and night without food.   
      
   International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, prohibits the   
   starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. The Rome Statute of   
   the International Criminal Court provides that intentionally starving   
   civilians by “depriving them of objects indispensable to their   
   survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies” is a war   
   crime. Criminal intent does not require the attacker’s admission but   
   can also be inferred from the totality of the circumstances of the   
   military campaign.   
      
   In addition, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza, as well as its more   
   than 16-year closure, amounts to collective punishment of the civilian   
   population, a war crime. As the occupying power in Gaza under the   
   Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has the duty to ensure that the   
   civilian population gets food and medical supplies.   
      
   On November 17, the WFP warned of the “immediate possibility” of   
   starvation, highlighting that supplies of food and water were   
   practically non-existent. On December 3, it reported a “high risk of   
   famine,” indicating that Gaza’s food system was on the brink of   
   collapse. And on December 6, it declared that 48 percent of households   
   in northern Gaza and 38 percent of displaced people in southern Gaza   
   had experienced “severe levels of hunger.”   
      
   On November 3, the Norwegian Refugee Council announced that Gaza was   
   grappling with “catastrophic water, sanitation, and hygiene needs.”   
   Wastewater and desalination facilities were shut down in mid-October   
   due to fuel and electricity shortages and have been largely inoperable   
   since, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. Even before   
   October 7, according to the UN, Gaza had virtually no potable water.   
      
   Prior to the current hostilities, 1.2 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million   
   people were estimated to be facing acute food insecurity, and over 80   
   percent were reliant on humanitarian aid. Israel maintains overarching   
   control over Gaza, including over the movement of people and goods,   
   territorial waters, airspace, the infrastructure upon which Gaza   
   relies, as well as the registry of the population. This leaves Gaza’s   
   population, which Israel has subjected to an unlawful closure for 16   
   years, almost entirely dependent on Israel for access to fuel,   
   electricity, medicine, food, and other essential commodities.   
      
   After the imposition of a “total blockade” on Gaza on October 9,   
   Israeli authorities resumed piping water to some parts of southern   
   Gaza on October 15 and, as of October 21, allowed limited humanitarian   
   aid to arrive through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Israeli Prime   
   Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on October 18 that Israel would not   
   allow humanitarian assistance “in the form of food and medicines” into   
   Gaza through its crossings “as long as our hostages are not returned.”   
      
   The government continued to block the entry of fuel until November 15,   
   despite warnings about the serious consequences of doing so, leading   
   to the shutdown of bakeries, hospitals, sewage pumping stations, water   
   desalination plants, and wells. These facilities, which have been left   
   unusable, are indispensable to the civilian population’s survival.   
   Although limited amounts of fuel were subsequently allowed in, on   
   December 4, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied   
   Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, called it “utterly   
   insufficient.” On December 6, Israel’s war cabinet approved a   
   “minimal” increase in fuel supplies to southern Gaza.   
      
   On December 1, immediately after the seven-day ceasefire, the Israeli   
   military resumed bombing Gaza and expanded its ground offensive,   
   stating that its military operations in the south would carry “no less   
   strength” than in the north. While United States officials said that   
   they urged Israel to allow fuel and humanitarian aid to enter Gaza at   
   the same levels observed during the ceasefire, the Defense Ministry’s   
   coordinator of government activities in the territories said on   
   December 1 that it halted all aid entry. Limited aid deliveries   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)