Israel’s months of assaults on Gaza appear designed to make the strip into an uninhabitable wasteland, stated EU overseas coverage chief Josep Borrell on Wednesday.
“After five months of devastating war and destruction, the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza give the impression that its objectives go beyond destroying Hamas. As Major General Giora Eiland wrote last December in (Israeli daily) Yedioth Ahronoth there appears to be an effort to ‘turn Gaza into a place that is temporarily or permanently impossible to live in’,” Borrell wrote on his EU weblog.
“Almost everything that allows a human society to function has been destroyed: civil register, property register, cultural and health infrastructure, most of the schools built by UNRWA,” he added, referring to the UN company for Palestinian refugees.
Saying that the Israeli armed forces are clearly failing to guard civilians and civilian infrastructure and that the humanitarian support flowing into Gaza is completely inadequate, Borrell stated: “Across Gaza, civilian infrastructure is devastated.”
He burdened that just about all the Palestinian inhabitants has been displaced, saying: “1.7 million people are surviving in UNRWA shelters, the UN agency in charge of helping Palestinian refugees, of which 158 staff members have already been killed. Civil order is collapsing in Gaza and anarchy is spreading,”
“The ruling by the International Court of Justice (in) January is legally binding, and Israel has finally to abide to it,” Borrell stated.
Israel stands accused of genocide on the International Court of Justice. Its January interim ruling ordered Tel Aviv to cease genocidal acts and take measures to ensure that humanitarian help is supplied to civilians in Gaza.
– MORE PATHS FOR HUMANITARIAN AID NEEDED
Borrell stated that Jordan, some EU member states, and the US have began airdropping meals into Gaza. While higher than nothing, airdrops are removed from essentially the most environment friendly method to supply the urgently wanted quantity of meals to the two million folks residing in Gaza, he stated.
“Israel should allow massive aid to enter Gaza by land. There are airports at only 90 minutes by road from Gaza where aircrafts bringing humanitarian aid could land,” he additional stated.
He added: “Obstacles to humanitarian aid transfer at the Kerem Shalom crossing must be urgently removed, and the Karmi and Erez crossings in the North of Gaza need to be opened for humanitarian aid. Additionally, maritime access should be granted immediately to bring much-needed relief.”
On the scenario within the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Borrell stated: “There has been a surge of demolitions, settlement construction, restrictions on movement and access, as well as settler violence since Oct. 7. All these measures make the life of Palestinians in the occupied territories very difficult, if not almost impossible. For months, we have been calling on Israel to seriously confront settler violence, release much-needed revenues withheld from the Palestinian Authority, and refrain from actions that may aggravate an already explosive situation. So far, without success.”
Stressing {that a} two-state resolution is the one option to resolve the issue as soon as and for all, he added: “The EU is determined to advance on this path and US President Biden is also working in this direction. Despite the refusal of the (Benjamin) Netanyahu government, the international community is united on the question of the two-state solution and will have to advance swiftly on its implementation.”
Israel has waged a lethal army offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 assault by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed practically 1,200 folks.
More than 30,700 Palestinians have since been killed and 72,156 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of requirements.
The Israeli battle has pushed 85% of Gaza’s inhabitants into inside displacement amid acute shortages of meals, clear water, and medication, whereas 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been broken or destroyed, in accordance with the UN.
Source: www.anews.com.tr