The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of
warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.
Israeli officials have made public statements expressing their aim to
deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel – statements
reflected in Israeli forces’ military operations.
The Israeli government should not attack objects necessary for the
survival of the civilian population, lift its blockade of the Gaza
Strip, and restore electricity and water.
(Jerusalem) – The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians
as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war
crime, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces are deliberately
blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully
impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural
areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable
to their survival.

Since Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023,
high-ranking Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Energy
Minister Israel Katz have made public statements expressing their aim
to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel – statements
reflecting a policy being carried out by Israeli forces. Other Israeli
officials have publicly stated that humanitarian aid to Gaza would be
conditioned either on the release of hostages unlawfully held by Hamas
or Hamas’ destruction.

“For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza's population of
food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking
Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a
method of warfare,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at
Human Rights Watch. “World leaders should be speaking out against this
abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza’s
population.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 displaced Palestinians in Gaza
between November 24 and December 4. They described their profound
hardships in securing basic necessities. “We had no food, no
electricity, no internet, nothing at all,” said one man who had left
northern Gaza. “We don’t know how we survived.”

In southern Gaza, those interviewed described the scarcity of potable
water, the lack of food leading to empty shops and lengthy lines, and
exorbitant prices. “You are on a constant search for things needed to
survive,” said a father of two. The United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP) reported on December 6 that 9 out of 10 households in
northern Gaza and 2 out of 3 households in southern Gaza had spent at
least one full day and night without food.

International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, prohibits the
starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. The Rome Statute of
the International Criminal Court provides that intentionally starving
civilians by “depriving them of objects indispensable to their
survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies” is a war
crime. Criminal intent does not require the attacker’s admission but
can also be inferred from the totality of the circumstances of the
military campaign.

In addition, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza, as well as its more
than 16-year closure, amounts to collective punishment of the civilian
population, a war crime. As the occupying power in Gaza under the
Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has the duty to ensure that the
civilian population gets food and medical supplies.

On November 17, the WFP warned of the “immediate possibility” of
starvation, highlighting that supplies of food and water were
practically non-existent. On December 3, it reported a “high risk of
famine,” indicating that Gaza’s food system was on the brink of
collapse. And on December 6, it declared that 48 percent of households
in northern Gaza and 38 percent of displaced people in southern Gaza
had experienced “severe levels of hunger.”

On November 3, the Norwegian Refugee Council announced that Gaza was
grappling with “catastrophic water, sanitation, and hygiene needs.”
Wastewater and desalination facilities were shut down in mid-October
due to fuel and electricity shortages and have been largely inoperable
since, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. Even before
October 7, according to the UN, Gaza had virtually no potable water.

Prior to the current hostilities, 1.2 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million
people were estimated to be facing acute food insecurity, and over 80
percent were reliant on humanitarian aid. Israel maintains overarching
control over Gaza, including over the movement of people and goods,
territorial waters, airspace, the infrastructure upon which Gaza
relies, as well as the registry of the population. This leaves Gaza’s
population, which Israel has subjected to an unlawful closure for 16
years, almost entirely dependent on Israel for access to fuel,
electricity, medicine, food, and other essential commodities.

After the imposition of a “total blockade” on Gaza on October 9,
Israeli authorities resumed piping water to some parts of southern
Gaza on October 15 and, as of October 21, allowed limited humanitarian
aid to arrive through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on October 18 that Israel would not
allow humanitarian assistance “in the form of food and medicines” into
Gaza through its crossings “as long as our hostages are not returned.”

The government continued to block the entry of fuel until November 15,
despite warnings about the serious consequences of doing so, leading
to the shutdown of bakeries, hospitals, sewage pumping stations, water
desalination plants, and wells. These facilities, which have been left
unusable, are indispensable to the civilian population’s survival.
Although limited amounts of fuel were subsequently allowed in, on
December 4, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, called it “utterly
insufficient.” On December 6, Israel’s war cabinet approved a
“minimal” increase in fuel supplies to southern Gaza.

On December 1, immediately after the seven-day ceasefire, the Israeli
military resumed bombing Gaza and expanded its ground offensive,
stating that its military operations in the south would carry “no less
strength” than in the north. While United States officials said that
they urged Israel to allow fuel and humanitarian aid to enter Gaza at
the same levels observed during the ceasefire, the Defense Ministry’s
coordinator of government activities in the territories said on
December 1 that it halted all aid entry. Limited aid deliveries
resumed on December 2, but still at grossly insufficient levels,
according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA).

Alongside the crushing blockade, the Israeli military’s extensive
airstrikes in the strip have resulted in widespread damage or
destruction to objects necessary for the survival of the civilian
population.

UN experts said on November 16 that the significant damage “threatens
to make the continuation of Palestinian life in Gaza impossible.”
Notably, Israeli forces’ bombing of Gaza’s last operational wheat mill
on November 15 ensures that locally produced flour will be unavailable
in Gaza for the foreseeable future, as highlighted by OCHA.
Additionally, the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said that the
decimation of road networks had made it more difficult for
humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to those who need it.

“Bakeries and grain mills have been destroyed, agriculture, water and
sanitation facilities,” Scott Paul, a senior humanitarian policy
adviser for Oxfam America, told the Associated Press on November 23.

Israel’s military actions in Gaza have also had a devastating impact
on Gaza’s agricultural sector. The sustained bombardment, coupled with
fuel and water shortages, alongside the displacement of more than 1.6
million people to southern Gaza, has made farming nearly impossible,
according to Oxfam. In a report from November 28, OCHA said that
livestock in the north are facing starvation due to the shortage of
fodder and water, and that crops are increasingly abandoned and
damaged due to lack of fuel to pump irrigation water. Existing
problems, such as water scarcity and restricted access to farming land
near the border fence, have compounded the difficulties faced by local
farmers, many of whom are displaced. On November 28, the Palestinian
Central Bureau of Statistics said that Gaza is suffering from at least
a US$1.6 million daily loss in farm production.

On November 28, the Palestine Food Security Sector, led by the WFP and
the Food and Agriculture Organization, reported that over a third of
agricultural land in the north had been damaged in the hostilities.
Satellite imagery reviewed by Human Rights Watch indicates that since
the start of the Israeli military's ground offensive on October 27,
agricultural land, including orchards, greenhouses, and farmland in
northern Gaza, has been razed, apparently by Israeli forces.

The Israeli government should immediately cease using starvation of
civilians as a method of warfare, Human Rights Watch said. It should
abide by the prohibition on attacks on objects necessary for the
survival of the civilian population and lift its blockade of the Gaza
Strip. The government should restore water and electricity access, and
allow desperately needed food, medical aid, and fuel into Gaza,
including via its crossing at Kerem Shalom.

On Mon, 08 Jan 24 21:04:32 UTC, NefeshBarYochai <void@invalid.noy>
wrote:

>The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of
>warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.
>Israeli officials have made public statements expressing their aim to
>deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel – statements
>reflected in Israeli forces’ military operations.
>The Israeli government should not attack objects necessary for the
>survival of the civilian population, lift its blockade of the Gaza
>Strip, and restore electricity and water.
>(Jerusalem) – The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians
>as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war
>crime, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces are deliberately
>blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully
>impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural
>areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable
>to their survival.

[...]

I'm not concerned. Jails and asylums use starvation of civilians in
their planning. I can imagine it must get worse as the environment
gets worse.

It can also lead to diabetes the way they do it, because you have to
eat all you can at each meal; there will be no food in between. The
reason I don't have diabetes is because I order food from Panda
Express to fill in the starvation periods.

Maybe if they starve out Gaza the surplus will be sent to my asylum.
Great.

It's half because they are too poor to have food available and part
because they want to be mean and rake in some diabetes dollars.

It's the state of Illinois and they are only half-aligned with what is
good for us. The other half they like to shit in our mouths.

Prtr. Mandrake wrote:

> On Mon, 08 Jan 24 21:04:32 UTC, NefeshBarYochai <void@invalid.noy>
> wrote:
>
> > The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of
> > warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.
> > Israeli officials have made public statements expressing their aim to
> > deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel – statements
> > reflected in Israeli forces’ military operations.
> > The Israeli government should not attack objects necessary for the
> > survival of the civilian population, lift its blockade of the Gaza
> > Strip, and restore electricity and water.
> > (Jerusalem) – The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians
> > as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war
> > crime, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces are deliberately
> > blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully
> > impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural
> > areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable
> > to their survival.
>
> [...]
>
> I'm not concerned. Jails and asylums use starvation of civilians in
> their planning. I can imagine it must get worse as the environment
> gets worse.
>
> It can also lead to diabetes the way they do it, because you have to
> eat all you can at each meal; there will be no food in between. The
> reason I don't have diabetes is because I order food from Panda
> Express to fill in the starvation periods.
>
> Maybe if they starve out Gaza the surplus will be sent to my asylum.
> Great.
>
> It's half because they are too poor to have food available and part
> because they want to be mean and rake in some diabetes dollars.
>
> It's the state of Illinois and they are only half-aligned with what is
> good for us. The other half they like to shit in our mouths.
-------------------------------------

Wow, that was just... Strange.

In the final Judgment, Jesus says that our eternal
destiny will be determined how we have treated
the poor and needy in society..

He said,

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least
of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
~ Matthew 25

On Mon, 08 Jan 2024 15:49:52 -0600, Prtr. Mandrake
<j63840576@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 08 Jan 24 21:04:32 UTC, NefeshBarYochai <void@invalid.noy>
>wrote:
>
>>The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of
>>warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.

Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of fast food they have over
there?

While I don't see any "name brands," they do have some choices.

WESTEROS
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YQnekSn_ZEkMNmawYRfkTwbbbNINhBhT/view
Chicken and burgers
No bacon burgers, I bet! LOL!

Chicken Broaster
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipM0bgF_xYH_21ajCUT_7w9ZY3bWmD4KuDDhuGFX=s680-w680-h510
Looks like a lot of chicken

Some Arabic Name
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipMYmaGtDFKrnfwVHpMvrCp1goR3xTYym8Rgd7w=s680-w680-h510
Looks like a VERY tasty chicken sandwich

Some Other Arabic Name
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipPiauGk7dBVMKWG2sq4lX4D983TH1GX7bL_pkYm=s680-w680-h510
Unidentifiable food for the most part

There is a McDonald's five and a half miles to the north if you're
desperate or squeamish.

On Tue, 09 Jan 2024 11:02:41 -0800, KlausSchadenfreude
<klaus.schadenfreudeREMOVE@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 08 Jan 2024 15:49:52 -0600, Prtr. Mandrake
><j63840576@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 08 Jan 24 21:04:32 UTC, NefeshBarYochai <void@invalid.noy>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of
>>>warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.
>
>Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of fast food they have over
>there?
>
>While I don't see any "name brands," they do have some choices.
>
>WESTEROS
>https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YQnekSn_ZEkMNmawYRfkTwbbbNINhBhT/view
>Chicken and burgers
>No bacon burgers, I bet! LOL!
>

Probably Halal certified food.
Some of them look really good.

>Chicken Broaster
>https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipM0bgF_xYH_21ajCUT_7w9ZY3bWmD4KuDDhuGFX=s680-w680-h510
>Looks like a lot of chicken
>

Looks good. But then, it should. It would be really stupid to use
bad looking food in the pictures.

>Some Arabic Name
>https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipMYmaGtDFKrnfwVHpMvrCp1goR3xTYym8Rgd7w=s680-w680-h510
>Looks like a VERY tasty chicken sandwich
>

It looks to be grilled. I can go for that!

>Some Other Arabic Name
>https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipPiauGk7dBVMKWG2sq4lX4D983TH1GX7bL_pkYm=s680-w680-h510
>Unidentifiable food for the most part
>

I see onion rings and french fries.
Definitely some sort of cheese on a sandwich. But I can't tell
what it's supposed to be.

>There is a McDonald's five and a half miles to the north if you're
>desperate or squeamish.

If it's like the ones I've been to in other countries, it will
have some local options. So it might be worth it.
Going to one to get a burger you can get in one's home country
would be stupid.

--
The Aztec contribution to our multicultural feast
will be delayed, until the main course stops begging
for his life.