‘Using starvation as a tool an abhorrent war crime’: HRW

Families in Gaza are facing a dire humanitarian crisis and their desperation is growing by the day. Our correspondent, Ismail al-Ghoul, has more from Gaza City. As we reported earlier, a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Israel has been using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. Omar Shakir, the group’s Israel and Palestine director, said there are at least five pieces of evidence that Israel is deliberately starving people in the densely populated territory. “One is two-plus months of blocking entry of food and water. Second is the blocking of all but a trickle of humanitarian aid from entering into Gaza. This has been documented for more than two months,” he told Al Jazeera. “Then, you add to it some of the additional evidence that we looked at. One is the apparent razing of agricultural lands, large percentages of the green agricultural lands turned into brown and desolate. “Fourth, the report looks at the intentional destruction of objects necessary for survival – I am talking about the wheat mills, hospitals, water and sanitation facilities,” Shakir said. “Then, you put together the last piece which is the statements of the Israeli officials spelling out in clear terms that their strategy or policy is to starve civilians as a tool of leverage to achieve political outcomes, whether it will be the release of hostages, the destruction of Hamas.” Putting it all together, Shakir added, there is “the clear conclusion that the Israeli government is using starvation as a tool, which is an abhorrent war crime,” he said. Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #Palestine #Gaza #GazaAirRaids #GazaAirStrikes #GazaUnderAttack #GazaHumanitarianCrisis #Israel #IsraelHamasWar #GazaWar #IsraelWar #IsraelPalestineWar #IsraelGazaWar #GazaHospitals #GazaBombardment #GazaRefugeeCamps #SaveGaza #prayforgaza