United Nations experts affiliated with the Human Rights Council declared July 9 that famine has now undoubtedly spread throughout the Gaza Strip. The expert determination follows the deaths of three more Palestinian children in May and June. Six-month-old Fayez Ataya, 13-year-old Abdulqader al-Serhi, and nine-year-old Ahmad Abu Reida were all found by the experts to have died from malnutrition. The experts stressed that inaction by the international community amounts to complicity, adding: “Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza.”
Following South Africa’s proceedings against Israel, the International Court of Justice has twice this year ordered Israel to prevent the blocking of humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning of potential violations of the Genocide Convention, and noting in the second order that famine was setting in. The UN World Food Program additionally found in May that North Gaza was experiencing a “full-blown famine” in May, the first official UN confirmation of famine in the Strip.
The expert group called on the international community to “prioritise the delivery of humanitarian aid by land by any means necessary, end Israel’s siege, and establish a ceasefire.” The experts reported that at least 34 Palestinians have died from malnutrition since the current crisis began on Oct. 7, most of whom were children. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 37,232 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and over 85,000 have been injured as of June 13.
The expert group is composed of special rapporteurs, independent experts, and working group members, and operates as part of the fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the UN Human Rights Council.
From Jurist, July 10. Used with permission.
See our last reports on genocide accusations against Israel.
Photo: Maan News Agency
Anglicans protest closure of Gaza hospital after ambulance attack
The Archbishop of Canterbury on July 8 joined Jerusalem Archbishop Hosam Naoum in protesting the closure of a hospital in Gaza after te IDF apparently fired on an ambulance. Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital, one of the territory’s last standing hospitals, was compelled to close by “escalating military activity.” (Jurist)
Gaza death toll underestimated?
A letter published July 5 on the website of the British medical journal The Lancet, entitled “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential,” asserts that “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.” These figures are significantly higher than the death toll of 38,345 announced on July 11 by the Gaza Health Ministry. (France24)
Other reports have accused the Gaza Health Ministry of over-estimating the death toll.
Israel orders evacuation of Gaza City —again
Israel on July 10 ordered all Palestinians to leave Gaza City, telling the estimated 250,000 people who remain in the enclave’s largest urban center to head south. Some 1.9 million people in the Gaza Strip have already been forcibly displaced—many multiple times. The UN recently lowered its population estimate for the enclave from 2.3 to 2.1 million to account for the over 38,000 Palestinians believed to have been killed during Israel’s military campaign and the over 100,000 who managed to escape to Egypt.
Israel ordered an evacuation of Gaza City early in the war last October. This time around, few Palestinians appear to be heeding Israel’s orders—either because it is too dangerous for them to leave their houses or because nowhere in Gaza is safe. Dozens of bodies of people killed in the renewed bombardment and fighting reportedly litter the streets of Gaza City. (TNH)
Alsp July 10 it was reported that the Biden administration is allowing a shipment of 500-pound bombs to be sent to Israel, lifting a “pause” announced two months ago, athough a second shipment of 2,000-pound bombs remains on hold. (CNN)
Israeli strike hits UN school in Nuseirat refugee camp
Israel reportedly conducted a strike on UNRWA’s Abu Oraiban School building in Nuseirat refugee camp on July 14. The strike killed at least 17 people, according to sources from Gaza’s civil defense agency, quoted by Al Jazeera. (Jurist)
Nuseirat was the scene of an Israeli “hostage rescue” operation last month that left hundreds of Palestinians dead an was decried as a “massacre.” A school at the camp was similarly struck last month.
‘Car intifada’ attack in Israel?
Israeli authorities on July 14 reported a car-ramming attack in the area of Nir Tzvi junction, adjacent to the Tzirin military base in central Israel. The attack occurred when a car rode into people at a bus station moments before the police neutralized the suspect.
Four injured from the attack were taken to a nearby medical center for treatment. According to a report given by Magen David Adom emergency medical services, one person was seriously injured when they arrived at the scene. The victims have all been positively identified as Israeli Defense Forces soldiers. (Jurist)
Israel orders evacuation of Gaza ‘humanitarian zone’
The Israeli military ordered the evacuation July 22 of part of a crowded area in the southern Gaza Strip that it had designated a “humanitarian zone,” saying it is planning a new operation there. The order triggered a new flight of Palestinians, many of whom had taken refuge in the southern city of Khan Younis just in the past weeks.
Gaza’s Health Ministry now says the toll from Israel’s nine-month war against Hamas in Gaza has surpassed 39,000 Palestinians killed and 89,800 wounded. The ministry’s count does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. (AP)