Amnesty says Israel deliberately starving Gaza's Palestinians
Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation in the 22-month-old war. Contacted by AFP, the military and foreign ministry did not immediately comment on Amnesty's findings.
According to the group's report, "Israel is carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the occupied Gaza Strip, systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life."
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Zawya
34 minutes ago
- Zawya
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Warring factions in eastern DRC commit horrific abuses including gang rapes, summary executions and abductions
Both the Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement (M23) and the Wazalendo, a loose coalition of armed groups backed by the Congolese army, have gang raped women and committed widespread human rights abuses against civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that violate international humanitarian law and could amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said in a new briefing. The briefing, ' DRC: 'They said we would die': M23 and Wazalendo abuses in eastern Congo ', documents how M23 fighters have summarily killed Congolese civilians, attacked hospitals, abducted patients, and tortured and forcibly disappeared civil society members. It also details the increasing militarization in eastern DRC, as M23 has taken control of vast swathes of territory in the region and the Wazalendo have received large amounts of ammunition and weapons supplied by the Congolese army (FARDC). 'The brutality of the warring parties knows no bounds; these atrocities are intended to punish, intimidate and humiliate civilians, as each side attempts to assert control,' said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. 'Rwanda and the DRC cannot continue shunning responsibility; they must hold all perpetrators accountable,' said Tigere Chagutah. 'It's time for DRC's President Felix Tshisekedi to honour his commitment to justice and accountability and ensure that Wazalendo fighters who committed crimes are brought to justice and others are demobilized and reintegrated into civilian life. As a party to the conflict, Rwanda must ensure that all Rwandan Defence Forces in the DRC comply with international humanitarian law.' Amnesty International interviewed more than 53 victims and witnesses, including survivors of gang rape, victims of abuse, relatives of those unlawfully killed, detained or forcibly disappeared, medical professionals, civil society members, human rights defenders, lawyers, humanitarian actors, and journalists. The organization also reviewed M23 official statements, audio-visual evidence and reports by local and international media and human rights organizations. On 18 July, Amnesty International requested information from the FARDC about the conduct of its soldiers, as well as information from representatives of M23 in relation to specific allegations of human rights violations and abuses. At the time of publication, the organization had not received responses from them. 'If you do not want this, we will kill you' Of the 14 survivors of sexual violence from North and South Kivu, interviewed by Amnesty International, eight said they were gang raped by M23 fighters, five said they were gang raped by Wazalendo fighters, and one said she was gang raped by FARDC soldiers. All the survivors of gang rape by M23 fighters said the perpetrators wore uniforms that resembled those of the M23 and spoke Kinyarwanda, which is spoken by some M23 fighters. The gang rapes by M23 fighters took place between March and May 2025 when the fighters controlled Goma and Bukavu in eastern DRC. Five survivors said M23 fighters raped them at M23 military positions. In Bukavu, five M23 fighters gang-raped Beatrice* at an M23 military camp. 'When I see someone in a military uniform, I'm traumatized. Since that day, I do not go out. When I see them, I feel pain in my heart. It's like a heart palpitation,' she said. In Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu province, as well as Kalehe territory in South Kivu province, Wazalendo groups raped women and girls. One woman was gang raped in late March 2025. Four other women in Masisi were raped by Wazalendo fighters, two in January 2024 and two in February and April 2025. Amnesty International also received a credible report of a young woman gang-raped by multiple Wazalendo fighters in Rutshuru in March 2025. Another woman was tied between two trees while six Wazalendo gang-raped her. 'Let them be punished so they don't do such acts to someone else,' she said. During another rape by Wazalendo fighters, Kinyarwanda-speaking men, believed to be fighters belonging to the Nyatura, a predominately Hutu armed group, accused the woman of supporting the M23. They told her that 'any women who come to the field, we will always rape them.' A woman said she was pregnant when she was gang raped in Bukavu by two FARDC soldiers in February 2025, before the fall of the city, as the FARDC were fleeing. During the rape, her 14-year-old daughter screamed from a bedroom. The soldier said: 'If she doesn't go back in the room, I'll kill her.' Tigere Chagutah said: 'For the women of eastern DRC, nowhere is safe; they are raped in their homes, in the fields, or camps where they seek shelter. The world must say enough. All warring parties must prioritize the protection of civilians, including women and girls who continue to bear the greatest brunt of this conflict.' Human rights abuses by M23 M23 fighters have also committed human rights abuses against civil society actors, journalists, lawyers, and others. Amnesty International interviewed 12 civil society actors, human rights defenders and journalists who described how M23 tortured, forcibly disappeared, arbitrarily detained, or threatened them. One civil society actor detained in March 2025 said that an M23 fighter asked him specific questions about issues he had covered in the past. 'It was like they had all the info on us,' he said. The M23 fighters whipped him both nights of his detention. 'They really beat me. They had whips. They beat me on the buttocks. They slapped me in my ears which caused my nose to bleed.' In May, Aloys Bigirumwami, a member of the youth movement, Lutte pour le Changement (LUCHA), and five others were taken away in a vehicle, and Bigirumwami has not been seen since. Amnesty International documented five summary killings by M23: three men in Goma and a father and son in South Kivu. All men were shot to death or had their throats cut by M23 fighters between February and May 2025. M23 fighters also attacked hospitals in Goma six times during the same period, abducting or detaining patients and caregivers, including FARDC soldiers who had been injured, still required care or were hiding at the hospital. On 19 July 2025, DRC and M23 representatives signed a 'declaration of principles' in Doha, Qatar, facilitated by the Qatar government, pledging to work toward a final peace agreement that will align with the peace deal signed in Washington, D.C., by DRC and Rwanda on 27 June 2025. 'As diplomatic efforts continue, Amnesty International calls on Qatar to press M23 to stop abducting and forcibly disappearing individuals. In addition, the United States should push the Congolese government to implement a vetting mechanism to identify and remove armed group members and security force officials who may have been implicated in serious human rights abuses or violations,' said Tigere Chagutah. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
Middle East Eye
39 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel approves E1 settlement to 'erase' Palestinian state with 'actions not slogans'
Israel has rubber stamped the construction of the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, in a move that a minister described as 'erasing' a Palestinian state 'not with slogans but with actions'. The settlement subcommittee of the Civil Administration on Wednesday approved the building of 3,400 new housing units on occupied Palestinian territory. The majority of them will be built near an existing settlement in Maale Adumim, in an area that aims to connect settlements in the West Bank with occupied East Jerusalem. The plan also includes 342 units in a new settlement in Asael, in the south of the West Bank. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister, said: 'Today we are placing historical facts on the ground. In E1 we are finally realising what has been promised for years. This is a defining moment for settlement, for security, and for the entire state of Israel.' New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters For the second time in recent days, the minister directly linked the project with killing a two-state solution. 'The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions. Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea,' Smotrich said. The minister, who leads the Religious Zionism party, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 'complete the move' by 'applying full sovereignty in Judea and Samaria - here and now'. He was referring to the formal annexation of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied in violation of international law since 1967. The E1 construction plan dates back to the late 1990s, but its implementation has been delayed due to international opposition. Both the United States and the European Union have warned successive Israeli governments against advancing the project, citing its impact on a two-state solution. 'European leaders will have nothing to recognise' The acceleration of the plans appear to be in response to France, Britain, Canada and Australia announcing their intentions to recognise a Palestinian state at a United Nations summit next month. Last week, Smotrich declared that any state which 'tries to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground,' not in the form of documents or statements, but through the building of 'houses, neighbourhoods [and] roads'. 'The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions' - Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli finance minister He repeated that idea on Wednesday, stating: 'The time has come to forever put the idea of dividing the land on the back burner and ensure that by September the hypocritical leaders in Europe will have nothing to recognise.' The E1 project seeks to cut off Palestinian communities between Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, which includes a historic area known as al-Bariyah, or "the Wilderness of Jerusalem", which Palestine submitted to Unesco's tentative list of heritage sites. 'This also means that the main historical route that has existed for more than 3,000 years - the road Jesus took from Jericho to Jerusalem - is going to be totally closed for the Palestinians,' Jamal Juma, coordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign, told Middle East Eye last week. The isolation of East Jerusalem from parts of the West Bank will force Palestinians to take lengthy detours to travel between several cities and towns. The plan has been likened to fragmenting occupied Palestine into 'Bantustans', a reference to Black-only ghettos created across apartheid South Africa. 'Hebron and Bethlehem will become another Gaza - a strip isolated from the West Bank. Ramallah will be the same,' Juma said. Apartheid road In March, Israel's political-security cabinet approved a separate road for Palestinians south of the E1 area, linking the northern and southern West Bank. The road was viewed as a preparatory step to expanding settlement construction in the area. 'The Israeli government is openly announcing apartheid' - Aviv Tatarsky, Israeli rights group Ir Amim Under the plan, Palestinian traffic would be rerouted away from Route 1 - the main highway connecting Jerusalem to Maale Adumim - reserving it primarily for Israeli use. 'The Israeli government is openly announcing apartheid,' said Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at Israeli rights group Ir Amim. 'It explicitly states that the E1 plans were approved to 'bury' the two-state solution and to entrench de facto sovereignty. An immediate consequence could be the uprooting of more than a dozen Palestinian communities living in the E1 area.' Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, all of which have been built since Israel seized the territories in the 1967 Middle East war. Under international law, settlement construction in an occupied territory is illegal.
Middle East Eye
39 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel steps up Gaza bombing as it signals ceasefire deal rejection
Israeli fighter jets intensified air strikes in northern Gaza on Wednesday, as the government approved a plan for the occupation of the strip and signalled its rejection of a ceasefire deal accepted by Hamas. Overnight raids targeted residential buildings in Jabalia, causing widespread destruction and leaving dozens dead or wounded, according to local reports. Medical sources said at least 35 Palestinians have been killed across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Wednesday. Among them, at least 10 people were reportedly killed while queuing for aid. On Tuesday evening, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz approved the latest plans to occupy Gaza City, presented by the military's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, and its high command. The escalation comes as Israeli Army Radio reported that the initial phase of the occupation has begun in the Zeitoun and Jabalia neighbourhoods in northern Gaza. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to Haaretz, recruitment of approximately 60,000 reservists began on Wednesday, with military officials indicating that up to 130,000 could be called up as part of the occupation effort. While Israeli officials claim the plan aims to dismantle Hamas, shelling in recent days has reportedly destroyed 400 homes in the Zeitoun neighbourhood alone. Mixed signals on ceasefire Meanwhile, Israeli officials have signalled the rejection of a ceasefire proposal that Hamas accepted earlier this week. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told the BBC in an interview that they were not interested in "partial deals". Hamas accepts Gaza ceasefire proposal set out by mediators, sources say Read More » "Things have changed now. The prime minister has laid out a plan for the future of Gaza," Mencer added. The proposal accepted by the Palestinian movement earlier this week - barring some minor details - is the same as the one that had been accepted on 1 June before both the Israelis and the Americans withdrew their teams from talks in Doha. While Israel is on the verge of a military occupation of Gaza City - and a possible complete takeover of the strip - the Kan public broadcaster said on Monday that the war cabinet is not ruling out the possibility of this deal taking hold, and that there are "positive" signs. Netanyahu issued cryptic remarks in a video on Monday appearing to address Hamas' statement that it had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza. "I, like you, hear the reports in the media, and from them you can get one impression - Hamas is under immense pressure," he said. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that Hamas must be "confronted and destroyed" in order for the captives to be retrieved from Gaza, effectively backing Netanyahu and his far-right government's latest offensive to fully occupy Gaza.
