A few initial paragraphs follow:
The accusation by the UN and other humanitarians that Israel may be committing a war crime by deliberately starving Gazaās population is likely to significantly increase the prospect of legal culpability for the country, including at the international court of justice.
Amid reports that the Israel Defense Forces are hiring dozens of lawyers to defend against anticipated cases and legal challenges, the charge that Israel has triggered a āman-made famineā by deliberately obstructing the entry of aid into Gaza is backed by an increasing body of evidence.
Already facing a complaint of genocide from South Africa at the ICJ, the UNās top court ā including an allegation that senior Israeli political officials have incited genocide in public statements ā Israel is also the subject of a provisional emergency ruling by the court ordering it to admit life-saving aid to Gaza.
On Wednesday, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, underlined the growing sense of crisis as he warned that all of Gazaās 2 million people were experiencing āsevere levels of acute food insecurityā ā the first time an entire population of Gaza has been so classified.
Unlike other issues related to Israelās conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has claimed more than 30,000 lives and displaced more than 85% of the population amid widespread destruction, the human-made famine occurring in the Palestinian territory appears more straightforward.
To be fair, Germany wasnāt the only one to learn the wrong lesson from that episode. Israel and vast swaths of the western world did as well. Not sure what itās going to take for them to learn the right lesson if ever. But it will sadly be horrific again. Iām sure. Already is really.