Gaza City: The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Palestine, Francesca Albanese, expressed her sorrow for the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli starvation policies, saying, "Your hunger is our shame."
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, this statement was made in a post on X, marking the 60th day since Israel's decision to close all crossings into the Palestinian Strip and halt the entry of food supplies and aid, effectively using food as a weapon in its ongoing aggression against the Strip.
In her statement, Albanese questioned the prolonged suffering, asking, "Why: after 19 months of genocidal violence, and 60 days without a single grain of rice entering Gaza, are Palestinians being presented to the world, scrambling for food as if gasping for breath?" She depicted the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, describing how residents "snatch food from filthy ground" and endure harm as they desperately search for sustenance amidst scarcity.
Albanese directly addressed the people of Gaza, lamenting, "Oh people of Gaza... oh Palestinians... your hunger today is a disgrace to us." She strongly condemned the international community's silence and inaction regarding the crisis in Gaza, urging for immediate intervention to alleviate the suffering. "We must not allow your suffering to continue if we are too indifferent, lazy, selfish, or corrupt to stop it immediately," she asserted.
The closure of the Gaza Strip's crossings to food, relief, medical aid, and goods since March 2 has significantly worsened the humanitarian situation, leaving many Palestinians in a state of severe deprivation.
