GENEVA, May 21 (KUNA) -- The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warned that more children could die of starvation due to the blockade imposed by Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip for over eleven weeks.
Over 50 children have already died from hunger and up to 71,000 children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition in the coming year, the Committee noted in a statement in Geneva on Wednesday, citing figures from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Committee condemned the continued obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza and called on the international community to pressure the occupying power to allow immediate and sustained access for essential food and medical supplies.
It further stated that preventing humanitarian assistance has worsened the already dire food security crisis emphasizing that "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 UN Committee also strongly condemned the ongoing and large-scale military aggression by Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip which has resulted in the killing and maiming of women and children.
It reported that more than 100 children were killed just last week alone not including victims of the most recent strikes bringing the humanitarian situation to a critical breaking 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 the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" the Committee stated.
The Committee also 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 called on the occupation power 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. (end) imk.gb