Deliberate starvation of civilians a war crime, EU warns Israel

The European Union has slammed remarks made by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who criticized aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, saying deliberate starvation constitutes a war crime.

The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell in a statement and a post on social media on Wednesday said that “deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime," calling earlier statements by Smotrich "beyond ignominious."

"It demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic principles of humanity," he added.

On Monday, the far-right Israeli minister asserted that blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is both “justified and moral,” insisting that it should continue until the return of captives, “even if it causes two million civilians to die of hunger in Gaza.”

Killing two million by hunger in Gaza ‘justified, moral’: Israeli minister

Bezalel Smotrich says the death of two million Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip from hunger might be “justified and moral.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the UK, Germany and France also condemned the Israeli minister's comments.

The French Foreign Ministry in a statement said that delivering humanitarian assistance to two million civilians in dire need, located in a blockaded region with access points regulated by Israel, is a requirement of international humanitarian law, as reiterated by the International Court of Justice.

The German Foreign Office spokesman also stated that international rights courts in The Hague will be monitoring the comments with great attention, particularly in light of Israel’s ongoing genocide case.

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy said on X that there “can be no justification for Minister Smotrich’s remarks,” and called on Israel to retract and condemn the remarks.

Leaked video shows Israeli forces sexually assaulting Palestinian inmate

Leaked video footage from surveillance cameras shows a group of Israeli reservist soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee from Gaza in the notorious Israeli detention camp Sde Teiman.

In his statement and post on X, the top EU diplomat also called on Israel to unequivocally distance itself from the words of Smotrich, as well as to establish transparency on the reported acts of torture at the Sde Teiman detention center.

Borrell's remarks came after newly-leaked video footage exposed the appalling conditions of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, showing a group of Israeli forces sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman, a notorious detention center in the southern part of the 1948 occupied lands.

Prisoner advocacy groups also recently said that a Palestinian detainee from Gaza died of torture in Sde Teiman.

The United Nations has urged Israel to fully investigate allegations of abuse and torture of Palestinian detainees by Israeli soldiers at its prisons, including sexual abuse.

UN experts: Israel has intensified torture of Palestinians amid absolute impunity

The experts also confirmed they had received “documented information” about numerous cases of torture.

Recently, UN experts warned of the “intensified use of torture” in Israeli jails and detention centers against Palestinian prisoners held since October 2023, when the Gaza war began. They confirmed in a statement that the escalation in the use of torture by Israel against Palestinian detainees is a crime against humanity.

The experts also confirmed that they had received “documented information” about numerous cases of torture, sexual assault and rape, “under horrific inhumane conditions.”

The number of detainees in Israeli prisons has surpassed 9,900, according to Palestinian organizations specializing in prisoner affairs.

The report by the governmental Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club and the non-governmental al-Dameer Foundation for Human Rights said the number of prisoners in Israeli prisons at the beginning of August includes 3,432 administrative detainees, at least 250 children and 86 women -- 23 of whom are administrative detainees.

Administrative detention is Israeli military imprisonment without charge, which can last six months and is renewable.

This comes as Israel is facing growing international condemnation over the high number of civilian casualties and worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 39,677 Palestinians, mostly women, and children, in Gaza, and injured 91,645 others since the Gaza war began in October. 

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