Gaza is facing a man-made catastrophe as Israeli forces continue a calculated campaign targeting civilians, homes, and essential services, a leading rights advocate has warned. Salah Abdel Ati, head of the International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights, told Safa News Agency that attacks on Gaza City and Jabalia have intensified, hitting residential areas, hospitals, and historic sites in what he described as “unprecedented crimes.”

Abdel Ati accused Israel of deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war, obstructing aid deliveries, and forcing evacuation orders that could displace nearly a million people. “The occupation is executing a systematic criminal plan of killing, destruction, starvation, forced displacement, and spreading disease to eliminate as many Palestinians as possible,” he said. The ongoing famine is claiming the lives of children, women, and the elderly, while thousands more suffer severe malnutrition and related illnesses.

The rights advocate called for urgent international intervention, demanding that the UN and global institutions recognise Gaza as a famine zone and take immediate steps to save lives. He highlighted that in the past 25 days only 2,000 aid trucks have entered the Strip, less than 100 per day, many of which were looted or restricted under Israeli control. “Deliberately militarising aid and engineering famine amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide,” he warned, urging governments and organisations worldwide to secure humanitarian access and impose sanctions until the attacks on civilians end.

Since October 2023, the offensive has left tens of thousands dead or wounded, hundreds of thousands displaced, and now more than 500,000 people in Gaza face catastrophic famine conditions, with over a million others on the brink. Despite trucks piling up at closed crossings, aid continues to be blocked, pushing the population ever deeper into hunger and desperation.