The Council of Europe on Friday, May 16, said Gaza was suffering from a "deliberate starvation," and warned that Israel was sowing "the seeds for the next Hamas" in the territory. "The time for a moral reckoning over the treatment of Palestinians has come – and it is long overdue," said Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The 46-member Council of Europe works to safeguard human rights and democracy.
"No cause, no matter how just or pure, can ever justify every means," Bakoyannis said in a statement. "The mass killing of children and unarmed civilians, the deliberate starvation, and the relentless pain and humiliation inflicted upon Palestinians in Gaza must end." Since March 2, Israeli forces have blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza for its 2.4 million inhabitants, now threatened with famine, according to several NGOs.
US President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that "a lot of people are starving" in the besieged territory. Bakoyannis said that "it takes a smart and brave nation to recognize when its actions are causing more harm than good. What is unfolding in Gaza helps no one." Breaking a two-month ceasefire, Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, with the declared goal of obtaining the release of all hostages still held in Gaza.
Separately, the UN's rights chief on Friday decried Israel's sharp escalation of attacks in Gaza – and an apparent push to permanently displace the population – as amounting to "ethnic cleansing."
"This latest barrage of bombs... and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing," Volker Turk said in a statement.