United Nations Says Israel Using Food, Hunger as a Weapon
- MoroccoWorldNews
Geneva – A United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on the right to food on Thursday described Israel's use of a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza as "genocide," saying Israel is using food and hunger as a weapon.
Michael Fakhri, who is in Geneva to attend the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council, spoke to Anadolu about the food crisis and famine in Gaza, and Israel's attacks on the Palestinian people.
“When the war broke out, we saw people go hungry in unprecedented ways. We have never seen any community made to go hungry so quickly. Now what we are seeing is famine. Children are dying from malnutrition, and dehydration," Fakhri said, as reported from Anadolu Ajansi site.
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“We have never seen children pushed into malnutrition so quickly in any conflict in modern history,” he added.
Emphasizing that malnourished children will have problems in development, Fakhri continued: “We were worried that they were going to experience stunting, which means permanent long-term physical and cognitive impact.”
“We see children dying from malnutrition, and dehydration, this is a stage of horror,:
He said at this point they are going to see the speed of death increased significantly, and continued: “I cannot imagine a more horrific situation.”
Regarding the recent airdrops of aid by countries to Gaza, Fakhri said that it is clear amongst humanitarian workers and the countries using airdrops that aid airdrops are very expensive, and not very effective.
"In fact, sometimes airdrops can cause a lot of chaos and problems as the food is scattered everywhere, with no systemic way of distributing the food," Fakhri remarked.
“Instead of spending all this time and money on such expensive airdrops, I think countries like the United States and others that are providing these airdrops need to focus on ensuring an immediate cease-fire by putting pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter unfettered and to ensure a permanent cease-fire,” he continued.
