71% of Gazans reeling under extreme hunger as Israel wields ‘weapon of starvation’: Rights group

News Network

December 20, 2023

A Geneva-based rights group has found that 71 percent of people in the Gaza Strip suffer from extreme hunger due to Israel’s devastating war on the Palestinian territory and the regime's method of using starvation as a weapon.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor released the figure on Tuesday after it conducted an analytical study of a sample of 1,200 people in Gaza.

Some 98 percent of participants at the study said they eat insufficient amounts of food and 64 percent admitted to eating grass, fruits, immature food, and expired materials to satiate their hunger.

The study was published at a time, when Israel has come under fierce criticism for using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in violation of international law.

Reports say the occupying regime is deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel to Gaza, impeding humanitarian assistance and destroying agricultural areas in the besieged territory.

The Israeli blockade on top of the genocidal aggression has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian catastrophe, where lack of access to sanitation and safe water has increased the prevalence of waterborne diseases.

The Euro-Med study also found that the rate of access to water in the Gaza Strip, including drinking, bathing, and cleaning water, is 1.5 litres per person per day. The amount is 15 liters less than the minimum amount of water required for survival.

Examining the effects of malnutrition and a lack of access to clean drinking water, the study found that 66 percent of Gaza residents have experienced diarrhea, skin rashes, or intestinal diseases in the past month.

Israel waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas ressitance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 19,667 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 52,586 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.

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Hundreds of Palestinian kids kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured by Israel: UN expert expresses shock

News Network

November 14,2024

The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has slammed Israel’s parliament for passing a law authorizing the detention of Palestinian children, who are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” in Israeli custody.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in a Thursday post on X, characterized the experiences of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention as extreme and often inhumane.

The UN expert highlighted the grave impact of this policy, noting that up to 700 Palestinian minors are taken into custody each year, a practice she described as part of an unlawful occupation that views these children as potential threats.

Albanese said Palestinian minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” and that “generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass incarceration system.”

She further criticized the international community for its inaction, suggesting that ongoing diplomatic efforts, which often rely on the idea of resuming negotiations for peace, have contributed to normalizing such human rights violations against Palestinian children and the broader population.

The comments by Albanese came in response to Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passing a law on November 7 that authorizes the detention of Palestinian children under the age of 14 for “terrorism or terrorist activities.”

Under the legislation, a temporary five-year measure, once the individuals turn 14, they will be transferred to adult prison to continue serving their sentences.

Additionally, the law allows for a three-year clause that enables courts to incarcerate minors in adult prisons for up to 10 days if they are considered dangerous. Courts have the authority to extend this duration if necessary, according to the Knesset.

The legislation underscores a shift in the treatment of minors and raises alarms among human rights advocates regarding the legal and ethical ramifications of detaining children and the conditions under which they may be held.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently in Israeli jails—around one-third without charge or trial. Also, an unknown number are arbitrarily held following a wave of arrests in the wake of the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli regime, under the supervision of extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has turned prisons and detention centers into “death chambers,” the ministry of detainees and ex-detainees’ affairs in Gaza says.

Violence, extreme hunger, humiliation, and other forms of abuse of Palestinian prisoners have been normalized across Israel’s jail system, reports indicate.

Over 270 Palestinian minors are being detained by Israeli authorities, in violation of UN resolutions and international treaties that forbid the incarceration of children, as reported by Palestinian rights organizations.

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