UN experts declare state of famine in all of Gaza and decry Israel's "genocidal violence"
Geneva, Switzerland – Deadly famine has spread throughout the entire territory of Gaza as a result of Israel's relentless war on the besieged strip, UN experts said in a press release.
The statement signed by 11 UN special rapporteurs said the death of children due to malnutrition and dehydration over the past six weeks left "no doubt" that famine was now present in all areas of Gaza.
Such deaths, they said, unequivocally proved the almost total collapse of the territory's health care system, which has been systematically reduced to rubble by Israel.
This, coupled with the blocking of aid and killing of aid workers, led the experts to issue a stinging rebuke: "We declare that 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,"
They also chastised the international community for failing to act as sooner.
"When a 2-month-old baby and 10-year-old Yazan Al Kafarneh died of hunger on 24 February and 4 March respectively, this confirmed that famine had struck northern Gaza," the press release said.
"The whole world should have intervened earlier to stop Israel’s genocidal starvation campaign and prevented these deaths."
"Inaction is complicity," UN experts say
In May, Israel was ordered by the International Criminal Court to stop its military operations in the southern city of Rafah – a major entry point for aid trucks into Gaza – and to facilitate the "unhindered" provision of humanitarian aid.
The ruling has been ignored, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians being driven out of Rafah and other cities, aid reduced to a trickle, and the killing of civilians continuing on a daily basis.
The official death toll now stands at over 38,000, although this is likely a gross undercount.
Among that number, the UN special rapporteurs said, are at least "34 Palestinians [who] have died from malnutrition since 7 October, the majority being children."
"Inaction is complicity," they insisted.
Cover photo: REUTERS