Gaza: UN Child Rights Committee Condemns Mass Starvation Of Children Amid Aid Blockades
GENEVA (21 May 2025) - The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child condemned the continued obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza, urging the international community to pressure Israel to allow immediate and sustained access for essential food and medical supplies.
'More than eleven weeks after the obstruction of humanitarian access, the food security crisis is deteriorating rapidly to the point that more than 50 children have died from hunger and many others are on the verge of death. If the blockade continues, more children will die and up to 71,000 children under five could suffer from acute malnutrition over the next year,' the Committee said, drawing on numbers from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
'The right to food is a fundamental human right, intrinsically linked to the right to life, and as such, it is non-derogable under international law,' the Committee stated.
It strongly condemned Israel's ongoing military actions in Gaza, which are killing and maiming women and children, including reportedly more than 100 children killed just last week, before accounting for the casualties from the latest strikes. These attacks are occurring on a massive daily scale and are pushing the humanitarian situation to a critical point.
'There is no justification for actions which clearly defy international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law, including the Conventions on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,' the Committee said.
It reaffirmed the importance of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, along with its Orders issued on 26 January and 24 May 2024 in the case South Africa v. Israel concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.
In addition, recalling its country review findings on Israel adopted September last year, the Committee urged the State party to take immediate action to guarantee the right to life, survival, and development of all Palestinian children, stop the killing and injuring of children in Gaza, and to allow safe and unrestricted humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip.
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Otago Daily Times
13 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
US vetoes UN demand for Gaza ceasefire
The United States has vetoed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the war-torn enclave. The other 14 countries on the council voted in favour of the draft on Wednesday as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month. "The United States has been clear: We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza," Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote, arguing that it would also undermine US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire. Washington is Israel's biggest ally and arms supplier. The Security Council vote came as Israel pushes ahead with an offensive in Gaza after ending a two-month truce in March. Gaza health authorities said Israeli strikes killed 45 people on Wednesday, while Israel said a soldier died in fighting. Britain's UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward criticised the Israeli government's decisions to expand its military operations in Gaza and severely restrict humanitarian aid as "unjustifiable, disproportionate and counterproductive." Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the council members who voted in favour of the draft: "You chose appeasement and submission. You chose a road that does not lead to peace. Only to more terror." Hamas condemned the US veto, describing it as showing "the US administration's blind bias" towards Israel. The draft Security Council resolution had also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and others. RIVAL AID OPERATIONS The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Many of those killed or captured were civilians. Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. They say civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks and that thousands more bodies have been lost under rubble. Under global pressure, Israel allowed limited UN-led deliveries to resume on May 19. A week later a controversial new aid distribution system was launched by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the US and Israel. Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies. Israel and the US are urging the UN to work through the GHF, which is using private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites. "No one wants to see Palestinian civilians in Gaza go hungry or thirsty," Shea told the Security Council, adding that the draft resolution did not "acknowledge the disastrous shortcomings of the prior method of aid delivery." The UN and international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not neutral, militarizes aid and forces the displacement of Palestinians. No aid was distributed by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Wednesday as it pressed the Israeli military to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its so-called secure distribution sites after a deadly incident on Tuesday. The GHF said it has asked the Israeli military to "guide foot traffic in a way that minimises confusion or escalation risks" near military positions, provide clearer civilian guidance and enhance training of soldiers on civilian safety. 'DELAYS AND DENIALS' The GHF posted on Facebook that "ongoing maintenance work" would delay the opening of its distribution sites on Thursday. It said on Tuesday that it has so far distributed more than seven million meals since it started operations. Despite US and Israeli criticism of the UN-led Gaza aid operation, a US ceasefire plan proposes the delivery of aid by the United Nations, the Red Crescent and other agreed channels. Israel has agreed to the ceasefire plan but Hamas is seeking changes that the US has rejected as "totally unacceptable." Ahead of the Security Council vote, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher again appealed for the UN and aid groups to be allowed to assist people in Gaza, stressing that they have a plan, supplies and experience. "Open the crossings – all of them. Let in lifesaving aid at scale, from all directions. Lift the restrictions on what and how much aid we can bring in. Ensure our convoys aren't held up by delays and denials," Fletcher said in a statement. The UN has long-blamed Israel and lawlessness in the enclave for hindering the delivery of aid into Gaza and its distribution throughout the war zone. "Enough of suffering of civilians. Enough of food being used as a weapon. Enough is enough is enough," Slovenia's UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar told the Security Council. A similar humanitarian-focused draft resolution is now expected to be put to a vote in the 193-member UN General Assembly, where no countries have a veto power and it would likely pass, diplomats said. Danon warned: "Don't waste more of your time, because no resolution, no vote, no moral failure, will stand in our way."
Kiwiblog
14 hours ago
- Kiwiblog
Maybe it is time for a Korea type partition for Gaza?
I am a resolute defender of the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state (as are all two state solution proponents), and of its right to defend itself after the terrible 7 October attacks which saw civilians, women, children tortured, raped and murdered. A huge amount of the criticism of Israel's response has been hysterical and illegitimate. Those who label it genocide just wish to smear Israel, and make the Holocaust seem less uniquely evil. No country in the world would not respond with ferocity and military might to an attack like October 7. However being a defender of the right of Israel to respond, doesn't mean you have to agree with everything the Netanyahu Government does. While many of the attacks on the response are bad faith, there is considerable division inside Israel about whether the continued military action is a good idea. The way you can tell a good faith criticism from a bad faith criticism is often by whom the criticism is targeted at. If they refer to Zionists of the State of Israel, it is almost always bad faith. If they refer to the Netanyahu Government, then it is more likely to be good faith – recognising Governments take actions that not everyone in a country supports. I am now one of those who finds it hard to see a coherent strategic end game from the Netanyahu Government. I can't honestly say that I see a military strategy that will result in a safer Israel. Look there are no easy options. The longer the military action goes on, the more Palestine civilians get killed, and the more future terrorists you end up with. But leaving Hamas in power isn't a great idea either. However the ratio of legitimate targets to collateral damage is getting uncomfortably high. One solution I have been toying with, is to abandon Gaza entirely. Don't just have one wall, but have a massive DMZ like between North and South Korea. Build two massive walls around a km apart, and have the space in between littered with mines so no attacks can be made through the DMZ. This would mean abandoning the policy of allowing people to cross from Palestinian territory into Israel for work. It was a noble goal that boost incomes through employment, and working together would lead to peaceful co-existence. Around 200,000 Palestinians were able to cross into Israel every day to work. Peace through prosperity gas failed as a strategy though. If Hamas remains in Gaza, you can't have border crossings. So build a huge DMZ to secure Israel's border with Gaza. Drop bombs on it every so often to take out any attempted tunnels. That will prevent another 7 October. Sure there may still be missile attacks from Gaza, but you just retaliate to those as they occur (as you do with the Houthi etc). So I am no longer convinced that the current military strategy of the Netanyahu Government is justified. If 21 months of military attacks hasn't got rid of Hamas, then how confident are you another six months will? Or another 12 months or 24 months? Do you have continual war? But returning to pre-October 7 settings is not an option either. I think you need to be pragmatic and say that peaceful co-existence is off the agenda for decades. Therefore Israel should effectively recognise Gaza as part of a Palestinian State, and build a huge DMZ to prevent any crossings between Israel and Gaza. This is not an ideal solution, but it works in Korea and has kept the peace for decades.
Scoop
17 hours ago
- Scoop
Comment By UN High Commissioner For Human Rights Volker Türk On Attacks Around Aid Sites In Gaza
Geneva, 3 June 2025 Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation'. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured. There must be a prompt and impartial investigation into each of these attacks, and those responsible held to account. Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law, and a war crime. Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism. This militarized system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned. The wilful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime. The threat of starvation, together with 20 months of killing of civilians and destruction on a massive scale, repeated forced displacements, intolerable, dehumanizing rhetoric and threats by Israel's leadership to empty the Strip of its population, also constitute elements of the most serious crimes under international law. In 2024, the International Court of Justice found that there was a real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights of Palestinians in Gaza under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Court issued binding orders on Israel to take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full cooperation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies and medical care to Palestinians throughout Gaza. There is no justification for failing to comply with these obligations.
