UN expert says Israel using hunger ‘as a weapon’ against population of Gaza

Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said that all children under the age of five in Gaza are not getting enough nutrition and are at risk of permanent physical and cognitive impairment.

“We’ve never seen 2.2 million civilians made to go hungry within weeks. We have never seen this degree of hunger used as a weapon so quickly and so completely, ever,” Fakhri told Al Jazeera.

“It doesn’t happen by chance. Starvation, wherever it happens, is always the result of political choices and this is the same case here,” Fakhri said.

“There was a 16-year blockade before this. So even before the war, half of the people in Gaza were food insecure and 80 percent depended on aid,” he said.

“Then [Israel] imposes a siege during the war. Then it destroys civilian infrastructure. So Israel has destroyed hospitals, homes, roads, making everyday life impossible. And finally, what I’m receiving reports of is the destruction of the food system itself,” he added.

Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe
Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish
Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera
Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/
Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/
Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile

#GazaHumanitarianCrisis #Starvation #GazaStarvation #Israel #GazaWar #IsraelHamasWar #IsraelGazaWar #GazaShortages #GazaAid