News - Middle East: A  UN special committee says Israel’s warfare methods in the besieged Gaza Strip are consistent with “genocide,” including the use of starvation as a weapon of war. 

The Thursday report by the UN human rights committee covers Israeli atrocities since the regime unleashed its ongoing war on the besieged territory from October 2023 up to July 2024. 

The committee pointed to "mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians" in the besieged region.

"Through its siege over Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, alongside targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated UN appeals, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel is intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury," the committee said in a statement.

The United Nations' top court earlier this year ordered the Israeli regime to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza.

The committee has condemned Israel for using starvation as a method of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians.

It denounced the occupation regime for deliberately targeting civilians and causing starvation through siege, obstruction of humanitarian aid and targeted attacks on aid workers. 

The UN, in its report, blamed the Israeli regime for destroying vital water sanitation systems and contaminating the environment that will inflict severe harm on generations to come.

The report also documented how Israel's extensive bombing campaign in Gaza had decimated essential services and unleashed an environmental catastrophe with lasting health impacts.

Israel’s assault has “unleashed an environmental catastrophe” by destroying essential services, such as water and sanitation, the impacts of which will be felt for a long time after any hypothetical ceasefire, the committee said.

Also delved into by the report is Israel’s use of AI targeting in its bombing campaign and its impact on the high number of casualties of women and children.

“The Israeli military’s use of AI-assisted targeting, with minimal human oversight, combined with heavy bombs, underscores Israel’s disregard of its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths,” the committee said.

Meanwhile, Arwa Damon, founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance (INARA), which provides medical and mental healthcare to children affected by war, says the situation in Gaza is “a complete nightmare”.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says women and children comprise nearly 70 percent of those killed in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s campaign of genocide in the besieged Palestinian territory.

A UN-backed assessment at the weekend warned that famine was imminent in northern where Israel launched another major offensive last month.  

The Israeli army on Thursday conducted fresh strikes on various areas of the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring several Palestinians.

An Israeli attack on a school in western Gaza left three Palestinians dead and 10 others wounded.

In another wave of assaults, Israeli forces attacked Gaza City as well as Jabalia and Nuseirat refugee camps.

It took place a day after the regime massacred at least 33 people across the strip.

People are trapped in their homes, especially in northern Gaza which remains under crippling siege for more than a month.

Earlier, Israeli artillery shelled Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza.

The death toll from the regime’s genocidal war that started in October last year now tops 43,700. More than 103,000 others are injured.

Source: Press TV