Israel’s complete closure of the Gaza Strip criticised in Geneva
The United Nations criticises Israel's decision to stop all deliveries of food, water, electricity or gasoline to the Gaza Strip. So does the the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva (ICRC).
It is forbidden under international humanitarian law to deprive people of what they need to survive, said the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, on Tuesday in Geneva.
“Sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of essential supplies are prohibited under international humanitarian law,” said Türk. “Restricting the freedom of movement of people and goods during a siege can only be justified by military necessity, otherwise this amounts to collective punishment.”
Spare critical infrastructure
The criticism was echoed by the ICRC. “Critical infrastructure that people need to survive must not be targeted,” said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric, also speaking in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Regardless of a military siege, authorities must ensure that civilians have access to basic necessities, including clean drinking water, food and medical care,” she added.
She condemned the taking of hostages of Israelis who were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip by Islamist group Hamas. This is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Spoljaric said she was worried about all the people who had lost contact with their relatives and noted that the ICRC stands ready to help as a neutral mediator.
More
Israeli-Palestinian war revives Hamas debate in neutral Switzerland
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
More
Fading fast: the final years of East Africa’s glaciers
More
Silent power guzzlers: Switzerland’s booming data centres
More
Why bird flu could threaten traditional Swiss cheeses
More
The global private education industry is coming for Switzerland’s expensive schools
More
Will Switzerland finally do away with imputed rental-value tax on homeowners?
News
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.