Israel deliberately obstructing aid, Former PM Helen Clark says
Photo:
Supplied/Elder
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark says she's witnessed Israel deliberately obstructing life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Together with former Irish President Mary Robinson, Clark visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian territory this week.
The two former world leaders were part of The Elders, an independent, non-government organisation of global leaders working together for peace, justice, human rights and sustainability.
The group had regularly
spoken out about the situation in Gaza
since Israel announced war on Hamas in October 2023.
'A significant proportion of manifested trucks are turned away with vital supplies. The world needs to know... This has to stop.'
Mary Robinson and
@HelenClarkNZ
witness the devastating reality at the closed Rafah border with Gaza.
pic.twitter.com/ocDlg5lUfa
Their joint statement said they saw evidence of food and medical aid being denied entry to Gaza, "causing mass starvation to spread".
"What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza, there is an unfolding genocide," the statement said.
"The deliberate destruction of health facilities in Gaza means children facing acute malnutrition cannot be treated effectively."
At least 36 Palestinian children starved to death last month, they said.
Israel has repeatedly denied famine and genocide were happening in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week said if his army had a policy of starvation "no one would be alive two years into the war".
Israel also disputed the figures provided by authorities in the Palestinian territory, but had not provided its own.
No shelter materials had entered Gaza since March this year, the statement said, leaving families already displaced multiple times without protection.
Former Irish President Mary Robinson and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark have visited the Rafah border crossing.
Photo:
Supplied/Elder
"Many new mothers are unable to feed themselves or their new-born babies adequately, and the health system is collapsing," Clark said.
"All of this threatens the very survival of an entire generation," she said.
Truth mattered, their joint statement said.
"The uncomfortable truth is that many states are prioritising their own economic and security interests, even as the world is reeling from the images of Gazan children starving to death," Robinson said.
"Political leaders have the power and the legal obligation to apply measures to pressure this Israeli government to end its atrocity crimes."
"This is all the more urgent in light of Prime Minister
Netanyahu's Gaza City takeover plan
. President Trump has the leverage to compel a change of course. He must use it now," she said.
Hamas authorities said Israeli air attacks had increased in recent days as the Israel Defence Force prepared to take over Gaza City, home to some one million Palestinians.
Netanyahu had defended his plan, saying the best option to defeat Hamas was to take the city by force.
The plan had been
heavily criticised
by Israelis, Palestinians, international organisations and other countries.
Israel has repeatedly denied famine and genocide were happening in Gaza.
Photo:
Supplied/Elder
Robinson and Clark urged Hamas and Israel to re-engage in ceasefire talks and immediately release Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinian prisoners, and for Israel to immediately open all border crossings into Gaza.
They also called for states to suspend existing and future trade agreements with Israel, as well as the transfer of arms and weapons to Israel, urging the world to follow the lead of Germany and Norway.
Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund
divested from Israeli firms linked to violations
of international law this week, while Germany's Chancellor
suspended exports of arms to Israel
.
"We call for recognition of the State of Palestine by at least 20 more states by September, including G7 members, EU member states and others," their joint statement said.
Australia was the latest to announce it would made the decree at a UN General Assembly next month if its conditions were met, following in the footsteps of Canada, France and the UK.
At least 20 countries had on Wednesday called for aid to urgently be released into Gaza, saying suffering in the Palestinian territory had reached
"unimaginable" levels
.
New Zealand was not among them, and had not yet made any pledge to recognise a Palestinian state, but the government said it was a
matter of "when not if" it would
.
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