Accusations by the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations that Israel may be committing war crimes by deliberately starving Gaza’s residents could expose the country to legal liability, including at the International Court of Justice. is likely to increase significantly.
Israel is intentionally blocking aid from entering Gaza amid reports that the Israel Defense Forces is hiring dozens of lawyers to fight expected incidents and legal challenges. The accusation of causing “artificial starvation” is being corroborated by a growing number of lawyers. evidence.
Already facing genocide charges from South Africa at the UN’s highest court, the ICJ, including allegations that senior Israeli political officials incited genocide in public statements, Israel also It is subject to a provisional emergency judgment ordering the court to recognize it. Lifesaving to Gaza.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the growing sense of crisis, warning that all 2 million people in Gaza were experiencing “severe levels of severe food insecurity.” This is the first time that the entire population of Gaza has been in such a situation. Classified.
Unlike other issues related to Israel’s actions in the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has claimed more than 30,000 lives and displaced more than 85% of the population amid widespread destruction, it has not occurred in the Palestinian territories. Artificial starvation seems simpler.
The question of civilian casualties resulting from a broader policy of specific attacks or bombings needs to be examined in the light of hotly debated concepts in international humanitarian law, such as proportionality and necessity in conflict, but the war of starvation Crime is simple and clearly defined.
Israel denies the allegations, but the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute define it as Crimes that “deprive civilians of items essential to their survival” and intentionally starve civilians, including “deliberate obstruction of relief supplies.”
This claim is based on the fact that, as a belligerent occupying power in Gaza, Israel has legal responsibilities for: Article 55 of the 4th Geneva Convention In order to “secure food and medicine for the people,” the occupier is required to “bring in necessary food, medical supplies, and other goods if the resources of the occupied territory are insufficient.”
At the heart of any case that Israel caused the famine is data produced by the United Nations Gaza Famine Commission, staffed by international experts on food security. The findings will come under the auspices of the Integrated Food Security Tiering (IPC) this week. – Considered the international gold standard in assessing food crises.
The commission, which was designed to be highly technical, often cautious, and neutral in its analysis, had already warned of the risk of famine, particularly in the most severely affected areas of northern Gaza. relies on a World Food Program study that concluded that Palestinians already face IPC. Phase 4 and 5 levels of malnutrition – “emergency” and “catastrophic”.
The IPC Committee also investigated food truck access to the worst-hit areas, stating that “a very limited number of trucks carrying food aid supplies will be allowed to enter northern Gaza and the Gaza Autonomous Region.” “There have been no reports of food trucks being able to enter or leave the area since February 5th.” I will be discharged from the military in Gaza City.”
The IPC report is supported by independent analysis by Oxfam America and Human Rights Watch and sent to the Biden administration this week, which says recipients of U.S. arms supplies must comply with international law. It highlights Israel’s failure to comply with new demands from the US government.
The analysis accused Israel of “systematically preventing it.”[ing] It cannot deliver “aid” to “the approximately 300,000 Palestinians who remain in northern Gaza, where the threat of starvation is most acute.”
The organizations added that in the first six weeks of this year, “more than half of planned humanitarian missions to northern Gaza were blocked by Israeli authorities.” The document accuses Israel of deliberate starvation policies and adds: “International humanitarian law prohibits parties to a conflict from ‘deliberately subjecting their populations to starvation, particularly by depriving them of food sources or material resources.’
Compounding Israel’s legal exposure over the famine issue were public comments made by Defense Minister Yoav Galant early in the war, in which he advocated a “total encirclement of Gaza” and revealed that his intentions were to: It makes one thing clear. ”
“We are at war with animal humans and we are acting accordingly,” he said.
Israel has accepted minimal aid under pressure from the United States and the broader international community, but has faced repeated complaints, including from President Joe Biden, that the quality is inadequate, and the Air Force They are encouraging other countries to drop missiles and attempt to open sea bridges by other countries. .
The claims about the use of starvation as a weapon of war come amid apparent growing anxiety among the Israeli military over the increased legal risks posed by the attack on Gaza.
an anonymous IDF official told Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. “International legal pressure on Israel began gradually before the war, with the International Criminal Court upholding an investigation against Israel in 2019 and declaring in 2021 that they have the power to…” I do.
“There is now increasing pressure from many countries to prioritize legal action against the IDF and the state, and it is not just from South Africa’s direction. Just this month, the International Criminal Court announced that Arrest warrants have been issued for two Russian generals on suspicion of causing casualties to non-combatants without justifiable cause.
