Janan Saleh Al-Saqafi succumbed to starvation and the unavailability of clean water in Gaza. (Photo: via social media)
European institutions have begun documenting systematic violations in Gaza, including starvation as a weapon.
A confidential report by the European Union’s Human Rights Unit accuses Israel of violating international humanitarian law and weaponizing starvation in its ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, Al-Jazeera reported on Wednesday.
The document, dated November 2024, reportedly states that Israel has killed tens of thousands of women and children in what it describes as clear violations of international law.
It also includes warnings from the European Human Rights Envoy, who indicated that Israel’s actions in Gaza may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the report.
Children among Casualties as Israeli Forces Hit Homes, Schools, Hospitals in Gaza
According to Al-Jazeera, the report was presented to EU foreign ministers during a meeting held at the time and recommended suspending political dialogue with Israel and halting arms exports to the country.
More recently, on May 23, Saskia Kluit, Rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said that Israel’s actions in Gaza may amount to ethnic cleansing and genocide. She described the ongoing massacre as “an enormous tragedy.”
Kluit underscored the “absolute and urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, adding that it is “man-made and an enormous tragedy for our shared humanity as we allow it to unfold unhindered before our eyes.”
She highlighted the “full blockade” imposed on Gaza, including the denial of essential humanitarian supplies since March 2, the forced confinement of Palestinians into an ever-diminishing space, and the absence of safety in designated “safe zones.”
LIVE BLOG: Massacres in Khan Yunis, Nuseirat | Israel’s Political Crisis Escalates – Day 606
“All this, combined with the declarations on the Gazans by members of the Israeli government,” she said, “makes it very hard to ignore that these acts point in the direction of ethnic cleansing and genocide.”
The Council of Europe, which monitors human rights and democracy across the continent, is composed of 46 member states.
Since October 2023, international experts say Israel has waged a campaign of extermination against the population of the Gaza Strip.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, around 125,000 wounded, and nearly the entire population forcibly displaced amid destruction not seen since World War II.
(PC, AJA)