Siege and genocide.. 400 thousand Palestinians are threatened with death by "starvation and thirst" in northern Gaza

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said on Monday that about 400,000 Palestinians are threatened with "death from hunger and thirst" in the Gaza Strip and the northern Gaza Strip, due to the Israeli siege and the prevention of aid from reaching them, while Israel continues to launch a military operation for ten days as part of the war of extermination that has been ongoing for a year.

The Geneva-based observatory said in a statement that "about 400,000 Palestinians are threatened with death by hunger and thirst in the northern Gaza Valley, due to Israel's decision to prevent aid or goods from reaching them for several weeks, while it continues a broad attack on northern Gaza for the tenth consecutive day to empty the area of its residents."

He added: "About 200,000 Palestinians in the North Gaza Governorate (Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, Beit Lahia) have been unable to obtain any food or drinking water for 10 full days, as a result of the siege and the military operation."

The observatory confirmed that "dozens of Palestinians besieged in Jabalia camp headed to the UNRWA food center under the pressure of hunger, but the Israeli army targeted them with shells and drones, killing 10 and wounding 40 others, and many victims are still lying in the streets, unable to be transported to the hospital."

He pointed out that "those who survive the Israeli bombing are threatened with death by starvation and thirst in one of the biggest crimes of starvation, which reflects the clear intention to use starvation as a weapon of murder and to impose living conditions intended to actually destroy the Palestinians in Gaza, as part of the crime of genocide."

He added that "thousands of residents besieged in Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip have run out of all their food supplies, especially since Israel has stopped the entry of any goods or aid for about three weeks before the incursion, as the majority of the residents were forced to be internally displaced, and thus lost their few belongings and their food and drink supplies."

He explained that "the residents who were forced to move to Gaza City, in turn, lack shelter and do not have any food supplies, as the Israeli army prevents the entry of aid and goods to all areas north of the Gaza Valley, including the Gaza Governorate and the North Gaza Governorate."

The Observatory also indicated that its field team documented hundreds of Israeli raids and shelling operations targeting homes, shelters and streets in northern Gaza, which have continued without stopping for 10 days, noting that "many victims and injured are still in the streets or homes because it is difficult to transport them to hospitals."

He explained that "the army is imposing a fire ban on the movement of ambulances in most parts of Jabalia and its camp, while receiving victims and the injured is limited to Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals, where medical teams are working under extremely difficult conditions and with limited capabilities."

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor made an urgent appeal to the international community, especially the United Nations, “to take urgent decisions obliging Israel to allow life-saving aid into northern Gaza and to stop its violent campaign of genocide.”

Hospital siege

Earlier today, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip launched an appeal for the necessity of bringing in medicines, medical supplies and food to patients and medical staff besieged in hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.

The ministry said in a statement that "with the continuation and intensification of the unjust Israeli siege on hospitals and the governorate of North Gaza for the tenth consecutive day, we are launching an urgent appeal for the necessity of bringing in medicines, medical supplies and food to the patients and health teams besieged in hospitals in North Gaza, and providing them with protection."

In this context, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that civilians in northern Gaza were given no choice but to leave the area or die of starvation.

Lazzarini said in a post on the X platform on Monday that more than 400,000 Palestinians are stuck in the area, noting that the health system in northern Gaza is "almost collapsed", and confirmed that they were unable to communicate with UN field teams due to the communications outage.

He pointed out that Israel has not allowed the United Nations to provide any aid in the area, including food, since September 30, adding: "The Jabalia camp is the most affected, as nearly 50,000 people were forced to flee."

“Essential services have been disrupted or forced to close, including our UNRWA health centre, and only two water wells are operational,” he continued, explaining that “the Israeli authorities continue to use attacks such as sabotaging civilian infrastructure and deliberately obstructing vital aid as a tactic to force people to flee.”

Lazzarini stated that international humanitarian law is very clear, stressing in this context that people cannot be forcibly displaced and that civilians must always be protected and their basic needs ensured.

"Many red lines have been crossed in Gaza. It is still possible to prevent actions that could constitute war crimes," he continued, calling for an immediate ceasefire.

For the tenth day, the Israeli army continues its ground invasion of the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, amidst a complete siege and starvation during which the entry of food, drink or fuel is prohibited, and under continuous bloody bombardment.

The army is trying to displace Palestinians from the north of the Gaza Strip to the south, amid Palestinian accusations that Tel Aviv is working to occupy the region and empty it of its residents through siege, starvation and killing.

With American support, Israel has been waging a genocidal war on Gaza for more than a year, leaving more than 140,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that has killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Source: Anadolu Agency