The accusation referred to the enclave's collapsed health system, in which only 12 of the 36 hospitals with hospital capacity are still partially functioning.
“Diseases are increasing. Starvation threatens. Water is scarce. Basic infrastructure is being decimated. Food production has come to a standstill. Hospitals have become battlefields. “One million children suffer trauma every day,” they said in a joint statement.
In the text, they highlighted that the city of Rafah, home to more than a million displaced people, has become another battlefield in this brutal conflict.
“A new escalation of violence in this densely populated area would result in a large number of victims. “It could also deal a fatal blow to a humanitarian response that is already on the ground,” they stressed.
The statement said more than three-quarters of the population have been forced to leave their homes, in many cases multiple times, and face severe shortages of food, water, sanitation, healthcare and basic survival needs.
Even as humanitarian workers face bombings, deaths, restrictions on movement and a breakdown of civil order in equal measure, they continue to strive to care for those in need.
The plaintiff organizations pointed out that there are too many obstacles, such as security and movement restrictions, to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance.
They also called on Israel to fulfill its legal obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights to provide food and medical supplies and facilitate relief operations, and called on world leaders to prevent an even worse catastrophe.
npg/crc