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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
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Israel’s war conduct in Gaza ‘consistent with the characteristics
of genocide,’ UN Special Committee finds
By Lauren Kent and Lauren Izso, CNN
Updated:
8:51 AM EST, Sat November 16, 2024
Source: CNN
Israel’s war conduct in Gaza “is consistent with the
characteristics of genocide,” including mass civilian casualties and
using starvation as a weapon, according to a new United Nations Special
Committee released Thursday.
“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, using
starvation as a method of war and inflicting collective punishment on
the Palestinian population,” the UN committee said in a .
“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.
The UN committee added that Israeli officials have publicly supported
policies to destroy “vital water, sanitation and food systems” in
Gaza as well as prevent access to fuel.
COGAT, the Israeli agency that approves aid shipments into Gaza,
responded on Saturday in statement that said Israel “does not use
hunger as a weapon of war.”
The Israeli agency said the quantity of food trucks entering the Gaza
Strip has “risen sharply and significantly” and Israel is
“exerting enormous efforts” to facilitate the entry of aid into
Gaza with “no limit on quantity.” The agency added that the UN’s
work in collecting and distributing the aid to residents the enclave is
“neither steady nor effective.”
“Despite the repeated claims of the international community, which
sometimes do not fully reflect the situation in the Gaza Strip and the
humanitarian efforts there, the State of Israel is tirelessly working
to provide for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” COGAT said.
Israel earlier this year what it called the “grossly distorted”
accusation of genocide leveled against it by South Africa, arguing in
the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) that its war was fought
in self-defense and that it was targeting Hamas rather than
Palestinians, following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terror attacks
in Israel.
The is composed of three UN member states, including Malaysia, Senegal
and Sri Lanka.
The UN report comes after the US-based advocacy group Human Rights
Watch (HRW) released a r of Palestinians in Gaza in a deliberate and
systematic campaign that amounts to a war crime and a crime against
humanity.
In a response to the HRW report on Thursday, the Israeli military said
it is “committed to international law and operates accordingly,”
and that it issues evacuation orders to protect civilians from combat.
Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza after weeks of intense Israeli
military operations in recent weeks have told described aand people
dying of hunger, as aid agencies warn that the area is on the brink of
famine.
But after a to improve getting humanitarian aid into Gaza expired this
week, the Biden administration assessed that Israel is not blocking aid
and so is not violating US law governing foreign military assistance.
The State Department said that while changes were needed, progress had
been made, so there would be no disruption to US arms supplies.
But the US view is a stark contrast with the bleak picture on the
ground, where much of the aid that reaches Gaza is not being
distributed.
“We have not seen any aid, and no one has sent us food,”
63-year-old Palestinian Umm Muhammad Al-At’out told CNN this week.
“Our children have died of hunger and thirst.”
The accounts of desperate civilians echo the World Health
Organization’s warning last Friday of “a strong likelihood that
famine is imminent in areas within the northern Gaza Strip.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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