2023-10-29 19:42:20
“Prevent access to humanitarian aid“towards the Gaza Strip could constitute a”crime” said Sunday in Cairo the head of UN investigators, Karim Khan, after going to the Rafah border post, linking Egypt to Gaza, where international aid for Palestinian civilians is piling up. .
“Preventing the delivery of aid may constitute a crime“, declared Sunday in front of journalists the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for whom “Israel must ensure without delay that civilians receive food, medicine” in Gaza.
“In Rafah, I saw stranded trucks, filled with goods and humanitarian aid, far from hungry mouths and wounds” of the inhabitants of Gaza, affirmed Mr. Khan.
Since October 9, Israel has imposed a “total seat” in Gaza, interrupting water, electricity and food supplies, while the territory was already under an Israeli blockade.
Calls are increasing to allow humanitarian support for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, subjected to incessant bombardments by the Israeli army, triggered by the deadly and unprecedented attack by Hamas on its soil on October 7.
On Sunday, Mr Khan said:investigate crimes that may have been committed in Israel on October 7” but also “on current events in Gaza and the West Bank” as part of the official ICC investigation opened in 2021 into the Palestinian Territories.
In the occupied West Bank, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed by settlers and during Israeli army operations since October 7.
More than 8,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Gaza in Israeli bombings, according to the Hamas Health Ministry, which has controlled the territory since 2007.
According to the Israeli army, more than 1,400 people have died since October 7, mainly civilians killed on the day of the attack during which Hamas took 239 people hostage.
Established in 2002, the ICC is the only independent international court that investigates crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, has refused to cooperate with the investigation.
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