GENEVA, (PIC)
Israel has expanded its total ban on humanitarian supplies entering large areas of the Gaza Strip as part of its ongoing war waged since Oct. 7, which included the use of starvation weapons against civilians, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Monday.
According to Euro-Med, the Israeli army had planned to largely cut off the central governorate of the Gaza Strip from the southern areas during the previous 48 hours by imposing restrictions on movement and limiting the supply of humanitarian aid, such as food and drinkable water.
Although in small amounts, the humanitarian supplies over the last two days were confined almost entirely to the Rafah Governorate in the extreme south of the Gaza Strip. These supplies, the Euro-Med Monitor said, included sparse distributions of aid, particularly water and flour. However, humanitarian aid was halted in the neighboring Khan Yunis Governorate due to Israel’s severe attacks.
Since Israel resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip last Friday, after a one-week temporary humanitarian truce, humanitarian supplies have been completely stopped in Gaza and its northern areas, which have been isolated by the Israeli army for more than a month as part of its ground incursions.
According to the 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, and 21 shelter centers that house roughly 50,000 displaced people—the great majority of whom were previously displaced from North Gaza—were likewise a cause for deep concern, according to the Euro-Med Monitor.
Along with its recent orders for evacuation and increased ground incursions in the Khan Yunis Governorate, the Geneva-based organization further warned that Israel would soon be expanding its ban on the entry of humanitarian supplies as part of its plans to forcibly displace the people of Gaza.
Israel has been using the starvation campaign as a tool of subjugation since the beginning of its war on the Gaza Strip. This includes bombing and destroying bakeries, factories, food stores, water stations, and tanks, in addition to cutting off all food supplies.
Since the start of the war, Israel has imposed a complete closure on the Gaza Strip, halting all food, water, electricity, and fuel supplies. Subsequently, it prohibited humanitarian aid access to the northern parts of Gaza City and its surrounding areas. Later, it broadened the purview of this ban, taking advantage of the lack of the passive position of the international and humanitarian groups.
The Euro-Med Monitor emphasized 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 monitor called for swift international action to impose a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stop the situation from getting worse by allowing all residents fair and unrestricted access to basic and relief supplies and by ensuring that fuel, food, water, medical supplies, and other necessities are available.
