STRASBOURG: The Council of Europe on Friday said Gaza was suffering from a “deliberate starvation,” and warned that Israel was sowing “the seeds for the next Hamas” in the territory.
“The time for a moral reckoning over the treatment of Palestinians has come — and it is long overdue,” said Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The 46-member Council of Europe works to safeguard human rights and democracy.
“No cause, no matter how just or pure, can ever justify every means,” Bakoyannis said in a statement.
“The mass killing of children and unarmed civilians, the deliberate starvation, and the relentless pain and humiliation inflicted upon Palestinians in Gaza must end.”
Since March 2, Israeli forces have blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza for its 2.4 million inhabitants, now threatened with famine, according to several NGOs.
Bakoyannis said that “it takes a smart and brave nation to recognize when its actions are causing more harm than good. What is unfolding in Gaza helps no-one.”
Breaking a two-month ceasefire, Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, with the declared goal of obtaining the release of all hostages still held in Gaza.
Israeli retaliations have caused at least 53,010 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, considered reliable by the UN.
The UK government has meanwhile defended supplying fighter jet parts to Israel, telling a London court that suspending exports would compromise Britain’s security and damage relations with Israel and allies.
Government lawyer James Eadie said the UK’s trade department had acted lawfully and that suspending the export licences would have affected a wider international F-35 program, resulting in “extremely serious risks to the UK and international security.”
He added the court was not placed to rule on the legality of Israel’s actions, and that attempting to do so could have a “potentially deleterious” effect on “foreign relations with a friendly state, namely Israel.”
