Gaza – The government media office in the Gaza Strip reported on Tuesday that Israel and the United States of America “are explicitly using the policy of starvation and food denial against civilians in the Gaza Strip as a means of political pressure.”
This came in a statement by the office affiliated with the government in Gaza, commenting on statements made by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, yesterday, Monday, during a press conference in Tel Aviv, in which he said that “the fastest way to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is to reach a ceasefire agreement.”
The office said, “The Israeli occupation and the US administration are explicitly using the policy of starvation and food denial against civilians in the Gaza Strip as a means of political pressure, and this constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity.”
He added: “We express our absolute rejection of linking the provision of aid and food to civilians, children and women to the ceasefire decision, which the occupation army has refused to implement for many months, and we consider linking the two issues to each other a clear crime that requires condemnation.”
He added, “For 105 days, the occupation army has continued, with the green light of the United States, to close the Rafah border crossing between Palestine and Egypt after burning it, bulldozing it, and putting it out of service, as part of engineering the crime of genocide that both parties are waging against civilians in Gaza.”
The government media figure pointed out that closing the Rafah crossing “has exacerbated the humanitarian disaster in an unprecedented manner,” considering it “a crime that violates international and humanitarian law and all international agreements.”
He stressed that preventing the entry of all types of aid, medicines, medical supplies and health delegations “seriously contributes to the aggravation of the health and humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
On Monday, Blinken said during a press conference in Tel Aviv after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that “the fastest way to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is to reach a ceasefire agreement.”
Blinken’s visit to Israel came two days after mediators in the Gaza ceasefire talks announced on Friday that the United States had presented a new proposal to narrow the gaps between Israel and the Palestinian factions, according to a joint Egyptian-Qatari-American statement published by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry at the conclusion of the second and final day of a round of talks hosted by Doha on Thursday and Friday.
This comes as Washington, which is spreading impressions that the talks are proceeding in a “positive atmosphere,” hopes that reaching an agreement between the factions’ movement and Israel to stop the war and exchange prisoners will help dissuade Iran and the Lebanese factions from responding to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, and the leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut the day before.
Israel has been continuing its war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to stop it immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Anatolia
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2024-08-21 07:12:24
