NEW YORK CITY: A group of UN human rights experts on Thursday condemned what they described as enforced disappearances of Palestinian civilians at food aid distribution sites in Gaza.
They called on Israeli authorities to end this “heinous crime” against an already starving and traumatized population.
“Reports of enforced disappearances targeting starving civilians seeking their basic right to food are not only shocking but amount to torture,” said Gabriella Citroni, the chair-rapporteur of the UN’s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
“Using food as a tool to conduct targeted and mass disappearances needs to end, now.”
The group of experts also included Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 and Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food.
They cited reports of individuals, including at least one child, disappearing after visiting aid distribution centers operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah. These sites, they said, have also come under aerial bombardment and gunfire, resulting in mass casualties among civilians already facing severe hunger.
According to the UN, Israeli forces are operating in and around these aid-distribution areas and are allegedly involved in detentions and disappearances of people seeking humanitarian assistance.
“We are particularly concerned that, once again, the Palestinian people have been targeted and punished as such,” said Albanese. “In the most desperate moment of man-made starvation, they are being denied life-saving aid and subjected to further violence.”
The experts warned that the rising number of disappearances at aid sites could deter desperate civilians from seeking food assistance, exacerbating the risk of famine in Gaza. Fakhri said that this represented a fundamental violation of the right to food.
“Enforced disappearances in this context are part of a broader attack on the right to access food and survive,” he added.
The experts accused Israeli authorities of refusing to provide information about the fate or whereabouts of detained individuals, describing this as a clear breach of international law.
“The failure to acknowledge deprivation of liberty by state agents, and refusal to acknowledge detention, constitute an enforced disappearance,” said Citroni.
“This is a violation of the absolute and non-derogable prohibition against enforced disappearances.”
The experts said that such actions must be investigated thoroughly and impartially, and those found to be responsible for them must be held accountable.
“The obligation to investigate and punish enforced disappearances is a jus cogens (compelling law) norm of international law,” said Ana Lorena Delgadillo Perez, a member of the working group.
“It must not be delayed or obstructed under any circumstances.”
The experts also raised concern over the reliance by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on private military security contractors at its aid distribution sites.
Aua Balde, another member of the working group, described the current GHF arrangement as an “inhumane aid system” and called for it to be immediately dismantled in favor of a UN-led humanitarian mechanism.
Special rapporteurs are part of what is known as the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. They are independent experts who work on a voluntary basis, are not members of UN staff and are not paid for their work.
