Israel has begun its response to Saturday's attack on its soil from the Gaza Strip. While the Islamists of Hamas are manoeuvring from the Palestinian enclave located in the south-west of the Jewish state, Israel has decreed a total siege of this region, which targets the entire population living there.
This point is causing tension among some international bodies and leaders. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip, which has been cordoned off and bombed by Israeli forces. "A humanitarian corridor is needed to get essential medical supplies to people," said WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. He said the organization was working with "partners" on it.
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WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke Monday with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian head of state whose country shares a border with Gaza. The meeting took place in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, on the occasion of a regional meeting of the organization. The two men discussed the possibility of transporting essential products for care and the proper functioning of hospitals. "We need these supplies. Hospitals can't operate without fuel, without electricity. The supplies we have pre-positioned are already at a low level, so we need these supplies to arrive," Jasarevic said.
Fear of 'collective punishment'
In addition, the total siege of the Gaza Strip announced on Monday by the Israeli defense minister is "prohibited" by international humanitarian law, the United Nations (UN) recalled on Tuesday. "The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of life-saving goods is prohibited under international humanitarian law," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. OHCHR reiterates that "any restriction on the movement of persons and goods aimed at implementing a siege must be justified by military necessity, otherwise it may constitute collective punishment."
Türk also said he was "deeply shocked and outraged by allegations of summary executions of civilians and, in some cases, horrific massacres perpetrated by members of Palestinian armed groups." He called on these groups to "immediately and unconditionally release all civilians captured and still detained." "The taking of hostages is prohibited under international law." He also said that, according to information available to his office, the bombing of Gaza by the Israeli armed forces had caused "civilian casualties".
"No electricity, no water, no gas" for 2.3 million inhabitants
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Monday the imposition of a "complete siege" on the Gaza Strip, on the third day of the offensive launched against Israel from the Palestinian territory by the Islamist movement Hamas. "No electricity, no water, no gas," he said. 2.3 million Palestinians live in the densely populated and poverty-stricken Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2007.
It is from Gaza that the unprecedented attacks on Israel since Saturday have originated. They killed more than 900 people in Israel, the worst attack in the country's 75-year history. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said Tuesday that the bodies of 1500,700 Hamas attackers were found at the sites targeted. Israel's military response has killed nearly 187 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities. It has also displaced more than 500,<> people inside the Gaza Strip since Saturday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.