Israel accused of using 'starvation as method of warfare' in Gaza

Israel faced mounting international pressure on Monday over the rising civilian death toll in Gaza, its destruction of hospitals there, and the alleged tactic of "using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare," according to rights groups.

The United Nations Security Council was set to vote Monday on a new resolution calling for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" in Gaza.

Israel's deadliest ever attack on Gaza was triggered after Hamas' unprecedented attacks on October 7, when the group killed 1,139 people and abducted around 250, according to updated Israeli figures.

Gaza's health ministry says more than 18,800 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel's campaign. It said at least 110 Palestinians had been killed since the previous day in Israeli strikes on a northern part of the territory. 

Following months of fierce bombardment and fighting, most of Gaza's population has also been displaced and people are grappling with shortages of fuel, food, water and medicine.

U.S.-based Human Right Watch (HRW) said Israeli forces were deliberately blocking delivery of water, food and fuel, razing agricultural areas and depriving Gaza's 2.3 million people of items needed for survival.

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"The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip," the humans rights charity said in a report. "World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime."

Israel has denied targeting civilians, saying that it is trying to facilitate aid to innocents while choking off supplies to thousands of Hamas fighters operating from tunnels. 

As for Gaza's infrastructure, fewer than one-third of Gaza's hospitals are partly functioning, according to the UN, with the World Health Organization denouncing on Sunday the impact of Israeli operations on two hospitals in the north of the territory.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was "appalled by the effective destruction" of the Kamal Adwan hospital, where Israeli forces carried out a multi-day operation against Hamas. Outside the hospital courtyard, which showed tank and bulldozer tracks, Abu Mohammed, who came to look for his son, stood crying. "I don't know how I will find him," he said, pointing to the debris.

The Israeli army pulled out of the hospital on Sunday after an operation lasting several days, claiming it had been used as a command and control center by Hamas. The WHO also said Israeli bombing had reduced the emergency department at the Al-Shifa hospital to "a bloodbath".

The Hamas-run health ministry said an Israeli strike on Sunday hit Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza's main city of Khan Yunis, killing one person and injuring seven others. And the ministry said Israeli forces had stormed Al Awda hospital in northern Gaza on Sunday and detained medical staff following several days of siege and bombing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again vowed to "fight until the end" on Sunday, promising to achieve the aims of eliminating Hamas, freeing all hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never again become "a center for terrorism."

Near Gaza's northern border crossing at the Israeli city of Erez, the Israeli army said it had uncovered the biggest Hamas tunnel so far. An AFP photographer reported that the tunnel was large enough for small vehicles to use.

The Israeli army said five soldiers were killed on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 126 in the Gaza Strip since ground operations began in late October.

Calls for truce

The Israeli government has come under growing pressure from the international community to pause the fighting and do more to protect civilians. The United Nations estimates that 1.9 million Gazans - around 80 percent - have been displaced by the war.

"I would not be surprised if people start dying of hunger, or a combination of hunger, disease, weak immunity," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

Gazans have also faced repeated communications outages but on Sunday Gaza's main telecoms firm said mobile and internet service had been gradually restored.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was in Israel on Sunday, where she called for an "immediate and durable" truce. France separately condemned an Israel bombardment that killed one of its foreign ministry officials in Gaza.

Demand to free hostages

Qatar, which helped mediate a truce last month that saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 jailed Palestinians, said there were "ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause."

But Hamas said on Telegram it was "against any negotiations for the exchange of prisoners until the aggression against our people ceases completely." Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Kuwait on Monday as part of a regional trip that will include stops in Israel and Qatar, which brokered a previous ceasefire deal.

Israel is also facing calls from the families of hostages, to either slow, suspend or end the military campaign. There are 129 hostages still in Gaza, Israel says, and relatives again rallied in Tel Aviv to call for a deal to bring them home after the army admitted to mistakenly killing three of the captives in Gaza.

Avi Shamriz, father of slain hostage Alon Shamriz, said the three had done everything right to protect themselves and demanded to see footage of the incident. "They took their shirts off. They waved a white flag. They marched in daylight in the middle of the street, not in hiding. And they yelled for help. But our army doesn't know how to observe open-fire regulations," he told Army Radio.

The conflict in Gaza has also seen violence spiral in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces killed five Palestinians on Sunday morning at a West Bank refugee camp.

Israel's army said air strikes had targeted Palestinian fighters who had endangered soldiers. Health officials say more than 290 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the war erupted.

Syria strikes

Fears continued to grow that the conflict in Gaza could engulf the wider region. Israel carried out air strikes near Damascus on Sunday, wounding two Syrian soldiers, the Syrian defense ministry said.

Israeli forces and Iran-allied Hezbollah fighters are exchanging regular fire across Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi fighters, saying they want to pressure Israel, have launched attacks on passing vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping zone, forcing major companies to redirect vessels.

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