Amnesty International: Cutting off supplies to Gaza is a war crime

London (ST) – Amnesty International has affirmed that cutting off supplies to Gaza Strip is a war crime, and that the failure of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to mention Palestinian civilians who were killed by the Israeli raids is worrying.

In response to Sunak’s recent comments regarding the current situation in the occupied Palestinian land territories, Sacha Deshmukh, the organization’s Chief Executive in the UK, said: “Britain Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s failure to mention Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli airstrikes or to include any call for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law is deeply worring.”

He stressed that the collective punishment of the civilians in Gaza by restricting the provision of water, fuel, food, and electricity is a war crime, and that the order issued by the Israeli army to residents in northern Gaza amounts to forced displacement.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned earlier that the Middle East is on the brink of abyss, stressing the need for the Israeli authorities to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

In a relevant context, the British “The Guardian” newspaper said that Sunak was completely blind to the humanitarian catastrophe that befell the Gaza Strip and the innocent civilians trapped inside it under the continuing Israeli bombing.

The newspaper indicated in an article by the British writer Toby Helm that Sunak offered obedience to “Israel” and renewed his unconditional support “not only today or tomorrow but forever,” as he put it, but the British Prime Minister did not talk about the plight of the innocent Palestinians stuck in Gaza or about the calling for their displacement from their homes.

The newspaper explained that Sunak’s expected position, of course, comes in the midst of increasing political tensions across Britain regarding dealing with the barbaric Israeli aggression on Gaza, and its attempt to displace the people of the Strip, as the ruling Conservative Party is trying to use the card of support for “Israel” in its battle against the Labor Party, which was considered in British circles are less sympathetic to the occupation authorities.

Najla Khoury