DayofPal– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday rejected accusations that people in the Gaza Strip are facing starvation, denying that Israel is employing starvation as a tactic of war.
Speaking at a conference, Netanyahu asserted that the Israeli army has documented the physical condition of thousands of Palestinian detainees from Gaza, insisting none of them showed signs of severe malnourishment.
Netanyahu said that despite international assessments warn of a looming famine in the besieged enclave.
“Thousands and thousands of prisoners taking their shirt off and you don’t see one, not one emaciated from the beginning of the war to the present,” he claimed.
Netanyahu further claimed that, from the early stages of the war, Israel had made the decision to provide Gaza’s civilian population with “essential requirements: food, water, medicine.”
However, he did not provide concrete evidence to support this assertion one that contradicts warnings issued by the United Nations and various humanitarian organizations regarding extreme levels of acute food insecurity in the territory.
His remarks also confirmed that Israeli forces have detained thousands of individuals from Gaza over the course of the war.
He admitted to the mass detention of thousands of civilians who were not involved in hostile activities, which is a blatant violation of Article (3) of the Geneva Conventions on war. This article prohibits warring parties from detaining civilians except under judicial and humanitarian guarantees.
He also admitted to a clear and direct violation of Article (13) of the Third Geneva Convention by photographing detainees and publishing the images for the purpose of defamation and humiliation. This article was designed to protect the dignity of prisoners of war and detainees.
In addition, he admitted the stripping of prisoners and photographing them in degrading and indecent positions, in ways that amount to humiliating treatment and degradation of human dignity, is considered a crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
He then concluded with a sick mockery of their bodies, saying: “You can notice that those we detained don’t exercise,” implying they are overweight from excessive eating.
Despite these claims, Israel has largely kept the crossings into Gaza closed since March 2, halting the flow of food, medical supplies, and humanitarian assistance.
The blockade has significantly worsened an already dire humanitarian situation, with local authorities reporting deaths from malnutrition, particularly among children. Gaza health officials have formally declared the conditions a state of famine.
58 children have died, since the war started, due to severe malnutrition, with the Gaza Government Media Office recording 9 children among 26 died in less the 24 hours due to starvation, last week.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced on Monday that it had launched operations to distribute aid, bypassing the United Nations and established international relief agencies.
Its integration into an Israeli-controlled aid mechanism has drawn criticism from humanitarian groups, who argue that sustainable, large-scale access is essential to meet the urgent needs of the population.
Tensions flared on Tuesday when Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on a crowd gathered at a GHF aid distribution point, killing at least three Palestinians and injuring 46 others, according to the Gaza media office.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza, ongoing since October 2023, has continued despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire. The offensive has resulted in the deaths of more than 54,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Additionally, Israel is currently the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions against civilians in the territory.
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