RABAT, May 29. /TASS/. Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has driven the Palestinian enclave to the most dangerous stage of famine, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri has said.
Israel has brought Gaza to the "most dangerous stage of starvation," and the effects will last for generations, Palestine’s WAFA news agency cited him as saying. According to the news outlet, Fakhri emphasized that what is happening in the embattled enclave constitutes "genocide, starvation, a crime against humanity, and a gross violation of human rights."
According to the UN special rapporteur, "Israel's plan has always been to inflict the greatest possible damage and destruction, and to inflict the highest possible death toll, in order to achieve its primary goal: to occupy and annex all of Gaza." "Israel has declared its intentions from the beginning of the war, in one form or another. The situation is constantly worsening, and we are witnessing a tangible and systematic escalation of violence by Israel," Fakhri stressed.
"Israel has completely blocked, restricted, or deliberately attacked humanitarian aid convoys. Now, what we are witnessing is the most dangerous phase of the starvation campaign," he added. According to the UN official, some aid has recently entered the Gaza Strip, as Israel had allowed a very small number of aid trucks into Gaza, "but they do not meet the needs of the population."
"The most important thing to remember is that the numbers we have now are always far lower than the reality, because international journalists are not allowed in, and a very limited number of aid workers are allowed to work there. So we know that the reality is much worse than we can imagine. Everyone knows that what is happening is genocide," Fakhri concluded.
On March 18, the Israeli army resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, launching massive strikes on the enclave and thus breaking the ceasefire established in January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Israel had restarted military operations in Gaza after the Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas rejected the US proposals put forward by mediators and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. The office stated that the Israeli military had resumed strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza to secure the release of hostages and that the army would escalate its campaign in the enclave. The Gaza-based movement has blamed the United States for the renewal of Israeli aggression.