Euro-Mediterranean Monitor: The occupation killed dozens of Palestinians trying to receive aid sent to the Gaza Strip

Occupied Al-Quds, ST) – The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed that the Israeli occupation not only starved Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but also killed dozens of them while they were  trying to obtain the limited aid that reached them. “This matter is considered the crime of genocide committed by “Israel” against the people of the Strip since last October 7”, it added.

The Monitor said in a statement on Tuesday that it documented shocking testimonies about the occupation’s Quad copter drone bombardment of Palestinians on the 11th of this month on Al-Rashid Street, west of Gaza City, when they gathered to receive humanitarian aid, which led to the death of nearly 50 Palestinians and the injury of dozens.

The Monitor indicated that the bombing forced the Palestinians to flee the area, transporting the wounded they could, while the dead remained in the place.

 “Later that same day, the trucks arrived and hundreds returned to gather again in an attempt to receive a share of flour at a time when hundreds of thousands in the northern Gaza Strip were suffering from hunger for the fourth month in a row”, the Monitor added.

The Monitor confirmed that the occupation uses starvation as a tool of war, which falls within the crime of genocide and requires urgent measures to enable Palestinians to obtain food, water, and all their basic needs without obstacles and without targeting or intimidation.

The Monitor held the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies responsible for the shortcomings and inability to deliver aid appropriately to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are suffering from real hunger for the fourth month in a row.

The Monitor held the United Nations also responsible for its silence regarding the occupation’s killing of Palestinians while they were trying to receive aid.

The Monitor stated that international humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a means of war and considers it a grave violation and prohibited collective punishment. It added the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court stipulates that deliberately starving civilians by depriving them of materials indispensable for their survival, including: Intentionally obstructing relief supplies is a war crime.

The Monitor confirmed that the severe and continuous deprivation of the people of Gaza Strip of flour, foodstuffs, and potable water in sufficient quantities is considered a form of the crime of genocide committed by “Israel” against them since the seventh of last October.

The Monitor stressed that this deprivation causes serious harm to the people of Gaza Strip and subjects them to living conditions intended for their actual destruction in  accordance with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and relevant international judicial rulings.

Raghda Sawas