NGO accuses Israel of using hunger as a weapon

An NGO denounced that Israel drastically ramped up its strategy to cause hunger in the Gaza Strip in an effort to worsen the already difficult living conditions of the Palestinians, which reached catastrophic levels.

According to a statement issued by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med), “the Israeli famine war took very dangerous turns” by cutting off all food supplies to the northern half of the territory. It also criticized “the bombing and destruction of factories, bakeries, food stores, stations and water tanks throughout the enclave.”

The IDF deliberately focused its attacks in recent hours on electrical generators and solar energy units, as well as agricultural areas, it stressed.

Euro-Med warned of an imminent rise in child deaths in Gaza if the world does not act quickly, amid a dramatic growth in the number of children in need of medical care due to acute malnutrition.

It recalled that before the start of the conflict, 70 percent of children in the Strip suffered from various health problems, such as malnutrition, anemia and weakened immunity. However, the figure grew to over 90 percent as a result of unprecedented Israeli attacks.

Some 52,500 babies and 55,000 pregnant women in the enclave are currently at risk of dying from hunger, dehydration and other health hazards due to overcrowding, it warned.

Mothers and newborns are seriously threatened by attacks, damage to health facilities, large-scale displacement and the collapse of food, water and electricity supplies, said Euro-Med, which criticized Israel for its deliberate bombings against wells and water tanks and for allowing the entry of only two percent of the humanitarian aid necessary to counteract the crisis.

The World Food Program estimates that the current food supply will only last a few more days, the NGO stated.