The UN said on Tuesday that Israel's severe restrictions on aid into war-ravaged Gaza coupled with its military offensive could amount to using starvation as a "weapon of war", which would be a "war crime."
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk denounced the rampant hunger and looming famine in Gaza.
In a statement slammed by Israel, Turk said: "The situation of hunger, starvation and famine is a result of Israel's extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods."
It was also linked to the "displacement of most of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure," he said.
Starvation as a method of war
"The extent of Israel's continued restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime."
His spokesperson, Jeremy Laurence, told reporters in Geneva that the final determination of whether "starvation is being used as a weapon of war" would be determined by a court.
The comments came after a UN-backed food security assessment determined that the war-torn Palestinian territory is facing imminent famine.
The devastating war since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel has left roughly half of Gazans – around 1.1 million people – experiencing "catastrophic" hunger, the assessment warned.
Without a surge of aid, famine would hit the 300,000 people in Gaza's war-battered north by May, it said.
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