JAKARTA - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday Israel sparked starvation in the Gaza Strip and used hunger as a weapons of war, a charge Israeli foreign ministers have denied.
"In Gaza we are no longer on the verge of starvation, we are in a state of hunger that has an impact on thousands of people," Borrell said at the opening of a humanitarian aid conference for Gaza in Brussels, Belgium.
"This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapons of war. Israel is triggering starvation," Borrell criticized.
Earlier this month, United Nations (UN) experts said Israel destroyed Gaza's food system as part of a broader "hung campaign", in its fight against Hamas militants and abused the United Nations human rights body for not doing more.
"The image of hunger in Gaza is unbearable and you are doing nothing," said Michael Fakhri, UN Special Reporter for Food Rights, in a speech at the UN Human Rights Council.
Humanitarian aid officials have warned of starvation, five months after a campaign against Palestinian militant groups, while hospitals in the northern part of a remote enclave say children are starting to die of malnutrition.
Fakhri further told the council Israel was "destroying the food system in Gaza".
"Israel has launched a campaign of starvation against Palestinians in Gaza," he added, including targeting small-scale fishermen.
It is known, several countries in the world have criticized Israel for rising hunger in the region, including Egypt and Iraq.
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In response to this, Yeela Cytrin, Israel's mission legal adviser to the United Nations, called the allegations against Israel a "open lie".
"Israel completely rejects accusations that it uses hunger as a tool of war," he told the council and then came out as a form of protest.
Israel itself denies restricting aid to Gaza and has begun working with private contractors to distribute aid.
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