The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor documented the deaths of 26 Palestinians, including 9 children, within 24 hours, attributing these fatalities to a deliberate Israeli policy using starvation and denial of medical care under a suffocating siege imposed since 2 March. The Monitor warned of a sharp rise in deaths among the elderly, children, and sick, caused by hunger, malnutrition, and collapsing healthcare amid worsening living conditions designed to destroy the Palestinian population.

Hospitals across Gaza are on the verge of collapse. The European Hospital in the south and the Indonesian Hospital in the north have shut down completely, while remaining facilities struggle to operate with minimal resources. The Gaza Ministry of Health lacks an effective system to properly record these deaths, which are often misclassified as natural, despite being caused by systematic starvation and medical neglect.

Testimonies reveal the human toll of this crisis: Abdul Salam Qudaih, 76, fled his home hungry and without essential medication; artist Samir al-Kabariti, displaced in a wheelchair, pleaded for food; and elderly Widad al-Sumairi described walking kilometres with her family, surviving on half-meals while children suffer from dehydration. Meanwhile, humanitarian aid remains negligible, with only a few trucks of limited supplies allowed in, failing to meet urgent needs.

These actions constitute grave violations of international law, amounting to war crimes and elements of genocide under the Rome Statute. The Monitor condemned Israel’s ongoing unlawful blockade since October 2023 and criticised the current Israeli-American aid plan as a mere tactic to prolong the siege. It called on the international community to lift the blockade, impose sanctions on Israel, and accelerate International Criminal Court investigations to hold those responsible accountable.

In conclusion, the Euro-Med Monitor urged urgent global action to end the siege, protect Palestinian civilians, and ensure justice and freedom for a people oppressed for 77 years, affirming their right to live in dignity and self-determination under international law.