The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, has called for sanctions against Israel, asserting that a potential famine may already be occurring in the besieged territory. According to him, Israel has intentionally imposed a blockade and starving the Palestinian people in Gaza since October 8. The UN rights expert stressed that an immediate ceasefire is essential to prevent or end an escalating famine and called for sanctions against Israel to push the Jewish state for a ceasefire.
Israel’s war crimes against innocent Palestinians in Gaza continued since October 8 last year. More than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women, and children, have been killed and over 70,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched an invasion against Hamas nearly five months ago. Israel’s war against Hamas has created a humanitarian catastrophe throughout the Gaza Strip and devastation in northern areas, which are largely cut off from the rest of the territory with little aid entering.
Hunger and severe malnutrition are widespread in Gaza, where about 2.2 million Palestinians are facing severe shortages due to continued blockade and restrictions on the flow of food, medicines, and other humanitarian supplies by Israel.
Recently, aid trucks and a huge crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian relief have come under Israeli fire causing massive casualties and attracting worldwide condemnation. According to the rights experts, there is no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses, and orchards in Gaza other than to deny people access to food. The UN Human Rights Defenders and Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food have called for sanctions against Tel Aviv for severe war crimes and inhumane treatment of Palestinians Surprisingly, the UN Secretary-General, Human Rights Chief, FWO, and General Assembly have categorically admitted Israel’s criminality and urged for action against the Jewish State but unfortunately, the UN Security Council and the ICJ are unable to feel and observe grave human rights violations in Gaza. Israel and his resolute supporters have taken control of the vital organs of the global forum as the whole body fell ineffective and lifeless. Against such a high level of discrimination, Muslim nations and the OIC must exercise a symbolic exclusion from highly biased and impotent organization that practically failed in its stated objective. Otherwise, no change is possible in the current situation.
