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<h1 class="title" id="page-title">Starve or surrender: Cut off all
food and water to Gaza, says Israeli general</h1>
<div class="submitted">
<span property="dc:date dc:created"
content="2014-08-23T19:28:54+00:00" datatype="xsd:dateTime"
rel="sioc:has_creator">Submitted by <span class="username"
xml:lang="" about="/users/ali-abunimah"
typeof="sioc:UserAccount" property="foaf:name" datatype="">Ali
Abunimah</span> on Sat, 08/23/2014 - 19:28<br>
<b><small><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/starve-or-surrender-cut-all-food-and-water-gaza-says-israeli-general">http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/starve-or-surrender-cut-all-food-and-water-gaza-says-israeli-general</a></small></small></small></small></b><br>
</span> </div>
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media-element file-full" style="width:618px;">
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<p>Israeli Major-General <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/giora-eiland">Giora
Eiland</a> has urged that all food and water be cut off to
Gaza’s nearly 1.8 million Palestinian residents – a major war
crime and precisely the “starve or surrender” policy which the
United States has condemned when used in Syria.</p>
<p>Eiland, the Israeli government’s former national security
advisor, argues that Gaza should be considered an enemy “state.”</p>
<p>“Since Gaza is in fact a state in a military confrontation with
us, the proper way to put pressure on them is to bring to a full
stop the supplies from Israel to Gaza, not only of electricity
and fuel, but also of food and water,” he wrote in <a
href="http://www.mako.co.il/news-columns/Article-a29168b5042f741004.htm">a
Hebrew-language op-ed</a> on <em>Mako</em>, a website
affiliated with Israel’s Channel 2 television.</p>
<p>“A state cannot simultaneously attack and feed the enemy, while
he is shooting at you, because this gives the other country a
breathing space – and again I am referring to Gaza as a country,
because the regime there is supported by its people,” Eiland
adds.</p>
<h2>Israel legally obliged to supply Gaza population</h2>
<p>Eiland appears to believe that the fiction that Gaza is a
sovereign “state” would somehow lessen culpability for what
would amount to massive war crimes and crimes against humanity.</p>
<p>Under <a
href="http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=8803ECCAB8E2414BC12563CD0051BE3B">Article
55</a> of the Fourth Geneva Convention, “the Occupying Power
has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the
population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary
foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources
of the occupied territory are inadequate.”</p>
<p>Under international law, Israel’s 2005 “disengagement” from
Gaza has not ended its military occupation of the territory
because Gaza remains under the “<a
href="http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2012/irrc-885-ferraro.pdf">effective
control</a>” of Israel.</p>
<p>Yet Israel has long violated its obligation by deliberately
restricting the basic needs of Gaza’s population and
deliberately destroying their food sources including
agricultural land, poultry and dairy farms.</p>
<p>While Eiland’s proposal calls to cut all food and water, <a
href="http://www.gisha.org/UserFiles/File/publications/redlines/redlines-position-paper-eng.pdf">strictly
regulating the food intake of Palestinians</a> in Gaza to
achieve political ends has long been the Israeli occupation’s
actual policy.</p>
<p>Israel’s deliberate attacks on Gaza’s civilian infrastructure
have created a “<a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/water-disaster-hits-every-single-person-gaza">water
disaster</a>,” already depriving every single person of access
to a safe and secure supply of water.</p>
<p>Israel’s brutal siege is precisely what the Palestinian
resistance in Gaza is currently fighting to end.</p>
<h2>Possible genocidal intent</h2>
<p>Eiland <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/how-liberal-zionists-enable-israels-genocidal-ambitions">recently
argued</a> in <em>Yedioth Ahronoth</em>, Israel’s largest
newspaper, that because they elected Hamas, the people of Gaza
as a whole “are to blame for this situation just like Germany’s
residents were to blame for electing Hitler as their leader and
paid a heavy price for that, and rightfully so.”</p>
<p>General Eiland’s call – which may amount to <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/genocide">incitement
to genocide</a> as well as to war crimes and crimes against
humanity – is only the latest exterminationist proposal from an
Israeli leader.</p>
<p>Moshe Feiglin, deputy speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s
parliament, for instance, recently called for the population of
Gaza to be <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/concentrate-and-exterminate-israel-parliament-deputy-speakers-gaza-genocide-plan">moved
to concentration camps and then expelled</a> so that Gaza
could be resettled with Jews.</p>
<h2>“Starve or surrender” mirrors Syria policy</h2>
<p>The United States government, Israel’s chief sponsor, has not
expressed any criticism of Eiland’s proposals, nor done anything
to end Israel’s siege. However, it views “starve or surrender”
as a <a
href="http://usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/229625.htm">grave
crime</a> when used against opposition-held areas by the
government in Syria.</p>
<p>This has been the case in several areas including <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/thousands-risk-starvation-yarmouk-un-warns">Yarmouk
refugee camp</a> where, <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/thousands-risk-starvation-yarmouk-un-warns">Amnesty
International has said</a>, the Syrian government is “using
starvation as a weapon of war to achieve its ends.”</p>
<p>Last month, the UN Security Council <a
href="http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2014/sc11473.doc.htm">adopted
a resolution</a> demanding that “all Syrian parties to the
conflict,” including the government and the opposition, “shall
enable the immediate and unhindered delivery of humanitarian
assistance directly to people throughout Syria,” immediately
“removing all impediments to the provision of humanitarian
assistance.”</p>
<p>By contrast, the so-called “international community,” led by
the United States, has supported and justified Israel’s siege of
Gaza for almost eight years.</p>
<p><em>With thanks to Daniel Shunra for translation.</em></p>
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