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Council of Europe: Israel must end mass killing of civilians, deliberate starvation in Gaza
“The time for a moral reckoning over the treatment of Palestinians has come – and it is long overdue,” said Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, AFP reported.
The 46-member Council of Europe works to safeguard human rights and democracy.
“No cause, no matter how just or pure, can ever justify every means,” Bakoyannis said in a statement.
“The mass killing of children and unarmed civilians, the deliberate starvation, and the relentless pain and humiliation inflicted upon Palestinians in Gaza must end.”
Since March 2, Israeli forces have blocked all humanitarian aid entering Gaza for its 2.4 million inhabitants, now threatened with famine, according to several NGOs.
US President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that “a lot of people are starving” in the besieged territory.
Bakoyannis said that “it takes a smart and brave nation to recognize when its actions are causing more harm than good. What is unfolding in Gaza helps no-one”.
Breaking a two-month cease-fire, Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, with the declared goal of obtaining the release of all hostages still held in Gaza.
Gaza rescuers said Israeli strikes and shelling on Friday killed 74 people in the war-battered Palestinian territory.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Basal reported “74 martyrs as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment across the entire Gaza Strip since last night until this moment,” most of them in the north of the Palestinian territory, after the agency earlier reported more than 50 dead.
Since the beginning of Israel’s attacks on Haza in October 2023, at least 53,010 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed.