Forced starvation in Gaza can amount to a war crime, says HRW
Amid the Israeli military's current siege of northern Gaza, Human Rights Watch programme director Sari Bashi released a statement saying that the forced displacement and starvation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza can amount to a war crime.
"Forced displacement can amount to a war crime. So can using starvation as a weapon of war," Bashi said in the statement.
"Since October 1 the Israeli military has ordered some 400,000 people in northern Gaza to leave their homes and blocked aid from reaching them - risking both crimes again and again."
Israel has blocked food aid from entering Gaza for two weeks, and the US earlier this week warned that Israel must boost aid to Gaza or risk a reassessment of military aid.
"It’s time for the US to take concrete action and suspend military assistance to Israel, to avoid complicity in the spiralling abuses against civilians in Gaza, most urgently in the north," Bashi said in the statement.
Forced displacement and using starvation as a weapon of war can amount to war crimes.
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 18, 2024
Since Oct. 1, the Israeli military has ordered 400,000 people in northern Gaza to leave their homes and blocked aid from them—risking both crimes again and again. https://t.co/pcMT5iimAw pic.twitter.com/xWvjQ0HVAQ