For nearly two months, Israel has deliberately and openly prevented the entry of any humanitarian aid including food, water, fuel, and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip. For more than a year, four Israeli human rights organizations, Gisha, Physicians for Human Rights, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual have led a principled legal petition in the High Court, demanding that Israel meet its legal obligations under Israeli and international law to ensure unfettered and immediate aid access to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
While the petition was still under deliberation, Israel announced the closure of all crossings into Gaza imposing a complete blockade since March 2. The state did not even claim that this extreme measure was related to military needs but admitted that it was a “political security” decision.
Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip waiting for food (Photo: WAFA)
On March 27, the High Court rejected the petition, displaying disregard for the implications of this latest state policy on the fragile humanitarian situation in Gaza. Nearly everything is scarce in the Strip: since March 18, Israel has bombarded continuously via land, air, and sea, causing thousands of deaths and injuries; issued displacement orders that forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee; and as mentioned above, blocked all entry of goods and equipment to the strip for nearly two months.
Last week, the human rights organizations sent an urgent request demanding the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Defense Minister Israel Katz, open Gaza’s crossings immediately and enable consistent and unfettered aid supply and access. In the request, the organizations emphasized that the aid block is an illegal policy, carried out for political motives, which severely harms the civilian population and violates international law. They warned that “the new policy raises concerns about the use of food and humanitarian aid as a weapon of war that could constitute war crimes, including the crime of genocide.”
Moreover, on Tuesday, April 23, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attacked Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir during a cabinet meeting after Zamir said he opposed Israeli soldiers distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza. The confrontation with the chief of staff, led by Smotrich and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, began after Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “there was no need to supply Gaza with aid since Gaza has enough supplies” and that he would oppose any future aid “that might be used by Hamas to control the population.” General Zamir said soldiers would not administer aid, and the army would not starve the Gaza Strip.
Also, yesterday evening racist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended a dinner in his honor at the Trump Mansion in Mar-a-Lago, along with Republican members of Congress and senior business figures, his office reported. Ben-Gvir met with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who said he followed and supported his actions, according to the statement. “I had the honor and privilege of meeting with senior Republican Party officials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X. manufacturers. Ben-Gvir is scheduled to speak Wednesday at Shabtai, a far-right Jewish society at Yale and students at Yale build a new Gaza solidarity encampment ahead of Ben-Gvir visit to the New Haven, Connecticut, university – almost a year after dozens were arrested in the same spot. The students are demanding that Yale divest from Israeli weapons manufacturers. The students’ move comes in defiance of the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism on campus, which has included visa revocations, arrests, and federal funding threats against universities.
On Tuesday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) accused Israel of using humanitarian aid as a “bargaining chip” and a “weapon of war” in the Gaza Strip, subjecting two million Palestinians, mostly women and children, to collective punishment. It called for the lifting of the 50-day-old blockade. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini denounced the situation in Gaza in a post on Twitter on Tuesday: “How long will it take for empty words of condemnation to translate into action to lift the blockade, resume a ceasefire, and save what remains of humanity?”
He added: “Fifty days have passed since the Israeli authorities imposed a blockade on Gaza. Hunger is spreading and worsening. It is deliberate and man-made. Gaza has become a land of despair.” Lazzarini continued: “Two million people—the majority of whom are women and children—are subjected to collective punishment, and the wounded, sick, and elderly are deprived of medicine and healthcare.”
He pointed out that “at the same time, humanitarian organizations have aid ready to enter Gaza, including nearly 3,000 trucks of lifesaving UNRWA aid.” The UN official warned that “essential supplies for people in need are nearing their expiration date,” and explained that “humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon in this war.” He stressed that “the blockade must be lifted, supplies must be allowed in immediately, the hostages (Israeli prisoners) must be released, and the ceasefire must be resumed.” Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces launched an attack on Gaza strip, leading to the killing of 51, 266 civilians, mostly from women and children, and injury of 116,991.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32588
