The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Israeli government on Monday of deliberately starving Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip as part of its war strategy against the Islamist movement Hamas.
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“The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a military technique in the occupied Gaza Strip, which constitutes a war crime,” the New York-based organization said in a report.
“The Israeli military is deliberately blocking access to clean water, food and fuel, while deliberately hindering humanitarian assistance, reportedly destroying agricultural land and depriving civilians of essential supplies,” the report asserts.
“That is absolutely false,” replied Tal Heinrich, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, confirming that “201 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday” during a news conference.
The temporary opening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing will allow “more trucks to be checked than UN agencies and humanitarian aid organizations can actually provide,” she assures.
“We do not impose any restrictions on the amount of food and water that can enter the Gaza Strip,” the spokesman added.
The war was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which killed around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on current official figures. Israelis available.
Around 250 hostages were kidnapped on the day of the attack, 129 of whom are still being held in Gaza.
According to the latest report from the Hamas Ministry of Health, more than 18,800 people, most of them women, children and teenagers, have been killed by Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip.
After weeks of bombing and fighting, most of the Palestinian population has been displaced and there is a shortage of residents.
According to an Egyptian Red Crescent official, Israel approved the “temporary” delivery of aid through the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Friday, and a first convoy entered on Sunday.
Dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian aid also arrived on Monday, according to an AFP journalist.