• Medico International decries Tel Aviv’s ‘deliberate’ hunger campaign against Palestinians

BERLIN

Two leading German human rights groups have accused Israel of “committing genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and "deliberately" starving them to death.

“We also come to the conclusion that Israel has committed and continues to commit genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip through its warfare,” Julia Durchow, secretary general of the German branch of Amnesty International, told a news conference in Berlin.

Israel's mass killings in the enclave prove its "genocidal intentions," she added.

Durchow said that “according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the deliberate starvation of the civilian population is a war crime.”

“If the starvation of the population takes place as part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, it may also constitute a crime against humanity,” she added.

She strongly criticized Germany’s Israel policy.

The German government must "stop arms deliveries to Israel, call war crimes by their name, and end one-sided partisanship. Germany must not stand unconditionally on the side of any state. It stands on the foundation of human rights," she said.

Raid Othman of the German section of Medico International warned about a mounting death toll as a result of Israel’s starvation campaign.

“Hunger doesn't appear overnight. It was deliberately brought to Gaza over a long period of time. For countless people, any help will come too late, even if Israel were to open all land crossings tomorrow,” he said.

At least 14 more Palestinians, including two children, have died of starvation in Gaza in the last 24 hours as a famine that was introduced by Israel’s months-long siege continues to worsen, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Monday.

The new fatalities brought the death toll from starvation in Gaza since October 2023 to 147, including 88 children.

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years, and since March 2, 2o25, has closed all crossings, worsening humanitarian conditions in the enclave.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.