Israel’s severe restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza and the possible use of hunger strikes as a weapon could “constitute a war crime”, the UN said on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“The extent of Israel’s restrictions on aid to Gaza and the way it continues to conduct hostilities may amount to using starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime,” said Jeremy Lawrence, a spokesman for the High Commission on Human Rights. , during another UN briefing in Geneva.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk clearly points the finger at Israel for the food situation in the Gaza Strip, especially in the northern Palestinian Territory.

“The state of famine is the result of Israel’s significant restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, the displacement of the majority of the population, and the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure,” Turk stressed in a statement read by a spokesman. , adding that “Time is running out.”

In a statement sent to the media shortly afterwards, the Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva said instead that “Israel is doing everything in its power to provide aid to Gaza, including by land, air and sea.”

The high commissioner is “once again trying to blame Israel for this situation and absolve the UN and Hamas of any responsibility,” the Israeli statement said.

The war in Gaza was sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli sources.

According to the Hamas Health Ministry, Israeli military operations launched in retaliation have killed more than 31,800 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians.