GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Human Rights Watch has called for urgent international pressure on Israel to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in an unprecedented level-five famine.
Omar Shakir, director of Human Rights Watch’s office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, stated on Tuesday that US complicity—under President Joe Biden and increasingly so during Donald Trump’s administration—has emboldened Israel to escalate its attacks, killing more civilians, the majority of whom are women and children.
Shakir emphasized that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, which the international community has thus far failed to stop.
He further noted that Israel’s use of starvation as a military tactic constitutes a war crime under international law. Moreover, the political decision to use children as a pressure tool is, he said, an unprecedented war crime.
Human Rights Watch urged governments and international organizations to take all necessary measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. This includes halting military aid, reassessing bilateral agreements and diplomatic ties with Israel, and supporting the International Criminal Court and other accountability mechanisms.
Israel resumed its intensified assault and blockade on Gaza at dawn on 18 March 2025, after a two-month truce under a ceasefire agreement that came into effect on 19 January. However, Israel repeatedly violated the terms of the ceasefire throughout the truce.
Since 7 October 2023, with US and European backing, Israel has carried out what rights organizations are calling a campaign of genocide in Gaza, killing and injuring over 168,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children. More than 14,000 people remain missing.
