How hunger became a weapon in Gaza’s warzone
The United Nations on Tuesday, June 24, condemned what it said was Israel's "weaponisation of food" in Gaza and called it a war crime, urging its military to "stop shooting at people trying to get food".
The head of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees also called a new US- and Israel-backed food-distribution system in the Gaza Strip an "abomination".
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began handing out food in Gaza on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into the occupied Palestinian territory for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.
The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, an officially private effort with opaque funding, over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
"Israel's militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution," said UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan. "The weaponisation of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime."
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He stressed that only a court could make a legal determination on whether war crimes have been committed.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
