In a damning indictment, the United Nations’ leading expert on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, accuses Israel of intentionally starving Palestinians and asserts that the country should be held accountable for war crimes and genocide.
Widespread hunger and severe malnutrition have gripped the Gaza Strip, affecting approximately 2.2 million Palestinians who are grappling with acute shortages caused by Israel’s destruction of food supplies and stringent restrictions on the flow of essential items, including food and medicines. Incidents of Israeli attacks on aid trucks and Palestinians awaiting humanitarian relief have been reported.
Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, expressed his concern to The Guardian, stating, “There is no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses, and orchards in Gaza—other than to deny people access to food.”
Fakhri categorically labels the intentional deprivation of people of food as a war crime, emphasizing, “Israel has announced its intention to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part, simply for being Palestinian. In my view as a UN human rights expert, this is now a situation of genocide.” He underscores that the culpability extends beyond individuals or specific government officials, asserting that the entire state of Israel should be held accountable for these actions.
The gravity of the allegations raises concerns about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, as international scrutiny intensifies on the alleged deliberate deprivation of essential resources to the Palestinian population. The accusations made by the UN’s leading expert on the right to food bring the issue to the forefront, demanding a comprehensive investigation into potential war crimes and genocide in the region.
