UN: Severe hunger widespread in Gaza, video of Barghouti’s “reprimand” unacceptable
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Tuesday that the risk of severe hunger is widespread in Gaza, a direct result of the Israeli government’s policy of blocking humanitarian aid.
OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Khitan explained at a press conference for UN agencies in Geneva that in recent weeks, Israeli authorities have allowed aid into Gaza in quantities far less than what is needed to prevent widespread severe hunger.
Al-Khitan stated that access to the scarce supplies available can be a deadly endeavor. He explained that from May 27 to August 17, the Office documented the deaths of 1,857 Palestinians while searching for food, including 1,021 killed near the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” sites, and 836 killed on the routes of supply trucks.
He indicated that most of these killings appear to have been committed by the “Israeli military.”
The spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights addressed the intensification of the Israeli occupation army’s attacks in the northern Gaza Strip, and its issuance of evacuation orders to Palestinians, including residents of Gaza City, demanding that they move to the Al-Mawasi area, even as airstrikes on this area continued.
He noted that on August 16 and 17, the Commission recorded five attacks on tents for internally displaced persons in Al-Mawasi, resulting in the deaths of at least nine people.
He said, “Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced to Al-Mawasi are suffering from a severe shortage of basic services and supplies, including food, water, electricity, and tents.”
For his part, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), warned of “an already deteriorating situation” in Gaza, noting that access to shelter supplies has been blocked for nearly five months, during which time more than 700,000 people have been displaced.
He added at the press conference: “What often happens is that people are forced to leave their tents. They may have been provided with a tent and then they are displaced again and are no longer able to take a tent with them.”
He noted that the United Nations and its partners had not been able to bring in shelter materials until last night following the Israeli announcement that the ban on such materials had been lifted.
He stated that a number of obstacles still needed to be addressed, including Israeli customs clearance.
In another context, the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights commented on a video clip “showing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir berating and insulting Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti face-to-face inside an Israeli prison.”
Thameen Al-Khitan said: “This is unacceptable. The minister’s behavior and the publication of the clip constitute an assault on Barghouti’s dignity.”
He added that international law requires that all detainees be treated humanely and with dignity, and that their human rights be respected and protected.
He continued, “This behavior by the minister—who is responsible for the Israeli Prison Service—may encourage violence against Palestinian detainees, paving the way for human rights violations in Israeli detention centers.”
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been facing an unprecedented wave of hunger since the Israeli enemy closed the Strip’s crossings in early March, imposing severe restrictions on the entry of food, relief aid, fuel, and medicine.
With American and European support, the Israeli enemy army has continued to commit genocidal crimes in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 62,064 Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are children and women, and the injury of 156,573 others. This is a preliminary toll, with thousands of victims still buried under the rubble and on the streets, unable to be reached by ambulances and rescue teams.