Amnesty International: Israel carrying out ‘deliberate’ starvation campaign against Gaza’s Palestinians

Rights group Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza, as the United Nations and aid groups warn of famine in the Palestinian territory.

In a report citing testimonies of displaced Palestinians and medical staff who treated malnourished children, Amnesty said that “Israel is carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the occupied Gaza Strip.”

The group accused Israel of “systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life”.

“It is the intended outcome of plans and policies that Israel has designed and implemented, over the past 22 months, to deliberately inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction – which is part and parcel of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” Amnesty said.

The report is based on interviews conducted in recent weeks with 19 displaced Palestinians from the enclave sheltering in three makeshift camps as well two medical staff in two hospitals in Gaza City.

Those interviewed spoke of how scrambling for food has stripped Palestinians of their humanity, being forced to ration bread and feeling burdensome to their families.

“While millions around the world continue to take to the streets in protest and world leaders engage in rhetorical posturing, Israel’s deliberate and systematic campaign of starvation continues to inflict unbearable suffering on an entire population.

Palestinian children are being left to waste away, forcing families into an impossible choice: helplessly hearing the cries of their emaciated children pleading for food, or risking death or injury in a desperate search for aid,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military and foreign ministry did not immediately comment on Amnesty’s findings.

Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation in the 22-month-old war despite evidence.

In a report issued last week, the Israeli defence ministry’s COGAT, a body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, rejected claims of widespread malnutrition in Gaza and disputed figures shared by the health ministry in the war-battered territory.

In April, Amnesty accused Israel of committing a “live-streamed genocide” against Palestinians by forcibly displacing Gazans and creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged territory, claims that Israel dismissed at the time as “blatant lies”.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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