As Israel weaponises starvation, scant chance of change without US pressure
We’ve spoken to Mark Lattimer, executive director of Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, a group monitoring violations of international humanitarian law, about the deepening starvation crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Speaking from London, Lattimer said the situation has become “so extreme that anyone, any rational observer, seeing those pictures of emaciated, dying children, seeing the terrifying videos of Israeli soldiers firing onto crowds waiting for food, is going to conclude that Israel is starving the population of Gaza”.
Amid the extreme food shortages, said Lattimer, “more and more genocide scholars around the world certainly are characterising what’s happening in Gaza as genocide”.
Lattimer noted that apart from the question of genocide, international humanitarian law prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of war – the basis of the charges brought against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Israel denies the charges.
Between starvation and forced displacement, said Lattimer, Israel is on very shaky legal grounds. “We are seeing the whole breadth of international legal opinion, a near consensus on the complete illegality of what Israel is currently doing in Gaza.”
But even as global legal opinion reaches consensus, added Lattimer, the US remains the only viable player for pressuring it to pull back. “The US refuses to put the requisite pressure on Israel to stop it from changing its course. That means, Israel continues to act – effectively, knowing there is no practical limits on its conduct. The response is catastrophe.”
Israeli FM welcomes US withdrawal from UNESCO
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar commended the US for withdrawing from the UN’s education and culture agency (UNESCO), known for protecting and establishing world heritage sites.
He said the move protected Israel’s right to fair treatment by UN systems, “a right which has often been trampled due to politicisation in this arena. Singling out Israel and politicisation by member states must end, in this and all professional UN agencies”, Saar wrote on X.
“Israel thanks the US for its moral support and leadership, especially in the multilateral arena which is plagued with anti-Israel discrimination,” he said, adding a call to reform the international body.
US State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, announced earlier today that Washington was withdrawing from UNESCO due to it no longer being in the country’s “national interest”.
“UNESCO’s decision to admit the ‘State of Palestine’ as a member state is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation,” Bruce added.
Israeli minister outlines plans for settlements in Gaza: Report
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he has discussed the annexation and establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip with the country’s military chief of staff.
Speaking at a far-right conference in the Knesset titled “The Riviera in Gaza – From Vision to Reality”, Smotrich said: “I truly believe that there is a tremendous opportunity here. We can start in the north and establish three settlements there; the discussions are already underway.”
According to Israeli media, Smotrich also said that Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir expressed support for what he called a “security annexation” of the territory – which remains under intense Israeli bombardment.
Limor Son Har Melech, another member of the Israeli parliament, said: “The return of settlements to Gaza is not a dream but a true Zionist goal, and we already have plans, drawings, and families ready to build.”
Israeli settlements in Gaza are considered illegal under international law, with many human rights lawyers viewing their establishment as a tool of ethnic cleansing the territory of Palestinians.
