By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“How can we remain silent, indifferent, or inactive in the face of this abominable injustice, and not feel hypocritical when commemorating the victims of any other genocide?”

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Palestine has questioned how the world could remain “silent” and “indifferent” to Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

“6-months old Fayez Ataya & 13yo Abdulqader Al-Serhi are two of the latest victims of the FAMINE that Israel’s STARVATION campaign has caused in Gaza,” Francesca Albanese said on X on Friday.

“How can we remain silent, indifferent, or inactive in the face of this abominable injustice, and not feel hypocritical when commemorating the victims of any other genocide?” she asked.

According to the latest UN-partnered IPC report on hunger levels, 96% of the population – some 2.15 million people – face acute food insecurity at a “crisis” level or higher.

6-months old Fayez Ataya & 13yo Abdulqader Al-Serhi are two of the latest victims of the FAMINE that Israel's STARVATION campaign has caused in Gaza.

How can we remain silent, indifferent, or inactive in the face of this abominable injustice, and not feel hypocritical when… https://t.co/7o2BZoZWdH

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) July 5, 2024

Albanese’s remarks were in response to a post by Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, who said “Famine in Gaza has spread from the north to the entire strip.”

“Every Palestinian in Gaza is now facing famine because of Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign,” he stressed.“How do I know this? The recent deaths of more Palestinian children tells us everything.”

Fakhri said “Fayez Ataya (barely 6 months old) died on 30 May. Abdulqader Al-Serhi (13-years-old) died on 1 June. Both children died from starvation.”

“There is therefore no doubt that famine has spread across all of Gaza,” he stated.

Weakened Health Structures

Questioning how a child’s death means “there’s famine?” Fakhri said, “The death of a child from malnutrition/dehydration indicates that health and social structures have been attacked, critically weakened.”

“When the first child dies from malnutrition and dehydration, it’s irrefutable that famine has taken hold,” he said.

The special rapporteur said the first reports of “starvation death” came from northern Gaza.

“Mahmoud Fattouh (1-mos. old) died on 24 February. Yazan Al Kafarneh (10-yrs. old) died 4 March. Both starved by Israel,” he said.

Almost 3,000 Children at Risk of Death in Gaza – UNICEF

“The whole world should’ve stopped Israel’s genocidal starvation campaign to prevent these deaths,” Fakhri emphasized.

The UN report said the humanitarian space in Gaza “continues to shrink” and the ability to deliver assistance to populations safely “is dwindling.”

“The recent trajectory is negative and highly unstable,” it said.

Thousands of Children at Risk

Last month, the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) warned that almost 3,000 children have been cut off from treatment for moderate and severe acute malnutrition in southern Gaza, putting them at risk of death.

“Horrific images continue to emerge from Gaza of children dying before their families’ eyes due to the continued lack of food, nutrition supplies, and the destruction of healthcare services,” said Adele Khor, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa in a statement.

“Unless treatment can be quickly resumed for these 3,000 children, they are at immediate and serious risk of becoming critically ill, acquiring life-threatening complications, and joining the growing list of boys and girls who have been killed by this senseless, man-made deprivation,” UNICEF emphasized.

Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza – Palestinian Child Starves to Death in Deir Al-Balah

At the same time, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said that Palestinians in Gaza are deprived of basic life necessities such as adequate shelter, food, medicine and clean water.

“Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are deprived of adequate shelter, food, medicine & clean water,” the agency said on X.

Aid agencies say Israeli authorities frequently prevent them from delivering aid to Gaza, worsening the situation in the already blockaded enclave.​​​

Staggering Death Toll

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, and 87,445 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

🔹Hundreds of thousands of people in #Gaza are deprived of adequate shelter, food, medicine & clean water

🔹The number of crossings into the #GazaStrip remains far too limited

🔹The ability to dispose of garbage & treat sewage is severely restricted. Trash continues piling up

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 29, 2024

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, Anadolu)