2023-12-18 16:25:00
The Israeli government responded to HRW, accusing it of being an “anti-Semitic and anti-Israel organization” / Photo: AFP
International Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused this Monday the Israeli Government of intentionally subjecting the civilian population of Gaza to famine as part of its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory, to which Israel responded to the non-governmental organization by accusing it of ” anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.”
“The Israeli government uses starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which constitutes a war crime”the New York-based NGO denounced in a report.
“Israeli forces deliberately block the supply of water, food and fuel, while intentionally preventing humanitarian aid, apparently devastating agricultural areas and depriving the civilian population of objects essential for their survival,” he added.
The Israeli government hit back at HRW, accusing it of being an “anti-Semitic and anti-Israel organization.”
“Human Rights Watch (…) did not condemn the attack against Israeli citizens and the massacre of October 7, and has no moral basis to talk about what is happening in Gaza if they turn a blind eye to the suffering and human rights of the Israelis,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat told AFP.
The war in Gaza was triggered by the bloody attack by Hamas on October 7, when the Palestinian Islamist movement killed 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and kidnapped another 250, including around twenty Argentines, according to authorities. .
The health ministry of Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory, says more than 18,800 people, mostly women and children under 18, have been killed by Israel’s offensive in response.
After months of intense bombing and fighting, most of the population of the Gaza Strip has been displaced and is suffering from shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine.
Israel approved on Friday the “temporary” delivery of aid through its Kerem Shalom border crossing. A first convoy entered yesterday, an Egyptian Red Crescent official said on condition of anonymity.
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