The UN Security Council held a special session this evening, Thursday, to discuss the escalating Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, under the item on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Israel's blockade of Gaza may amount to starvation as a method of warfare

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that the Israeli blockade of Gaza may amount to the use of starvation as a method of warfare, expressing his shock at the recent killing of 15 medical and humanitarian workers in Gaza, "raising further concerns about the Israeli military committing war crimes." He called for an independent, prompt, and comprehensive investigation, stressing the need to hold accountable those responsible for any violations of international law.

In his briefing to the UN Security Council, Türk said, "The Israeli military continues to bombard camps of people who have been displaced multiple times and who have nowhere safe to go," adding that "Israeli evacuation orders do not comply with the requirements of international humanitarian law."

He said that the comprehensive Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza for a month "amounts to collective punishment and may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war."

He stressed that the blockade imposed on vital aid and supplies, including food, water, electricity, fuel, and medicine, is harming all Gazans, saying, "We are witnessing a return to the collapse of the social order that preceded the ceasefire."

Turk expressed concern about the "inflammatory rhetoric" of senior Israeli officials regarding land seizure, annexation, and partition, and the transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza. He said, "This raises serious concerns about the commission of international crimes and contradicts the fundamental principle of international law against the acquisition of territory by force."

He also expressed grave concern about the situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced and entire refugee camps have been destroyed. Meanwhile, he reported that illegal settlement expansion "continues unabated," with some Israeli ministers calling for "Israeli sovereignty" over the occupied territories.

Türk urged an immediate return to the ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to all parts of Gaza, warning of "a growing and significant risk of atrocity crimes being committed in the occupied Palestinian territory."

"Under the Geneva Conventions, states are obligated to act when a serious violation of international humanitarian law is committed. Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, states parties have a responsibility to act to prevent such a crime when the threat becomes clear," Turk said.

"Israel must refrain from any actions that amount to forcible transfer of Gaza's population," he said.