An expert with the United Nations (UN) has denounced Israel for destroying Gaza's food system as part of Tel Aviv's bigger "...
An expert with the United Nations (UN) has denounced Israel for destroying Gaza's food system as part of Tel Aviv's bigger "starvation campaign" against the Palestinians.
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri issued this condemnation during a March 7 speech before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The council wasn't off the hook as the Lebanese-Canadian law professor rebuked it for its inaction, remarking: "The images of starvation in Gaza are unbearable and you are doing nothing."
According to Fakhri, "Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza." He added that Tel Aviv is "destroying the food system" there by targeting small-scale fishermen, denying them access to the sea and destroying their boats and shacks. Fakhri continued that around 80 percent of the Strip's fishing sector has been destroyed since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and that Israeli forces have demolished every boat in the main port of Gaza City – the Strip's capital.
The law professor is one of dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the UN to report and advise on specific themes and crises, according to Reuters. Several other countries including Egypt and Iraq have echoed his criticism of Israel for the growing hunger in Gaza.
Fakhri concluded his speech by calling on UN member countries to also consider sanctions, cutting diplomatic ties and implementing arms embargoes with Israel. "This is on your watch. Please turn your words into action," he said.
A day earlier on March 6, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to X to call for more aid into Gaza alongside an immediate ceasefire. He also shared a video detailing the situation in the area under siege by Israel. According to the WHO head who hails from Ethiopia, children in Gaza who have survived bombings by the Israel Defense Forces may not now survive famine.
Israelis line up for burgers as Palestinians starve
The remarks by Fakhri and Tedros come at the heels of American fast-food chain Shake Shack opening its first branch in Israel. The burger joint opened its first location in the Jewish-majority nation at Dizengoff Street in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 5. According to the Middle East Eye, Shake Shack's opening in the city saw groups of people line up to get their orders.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz meanwhile said Shake Shack's opening in Tel Aviv was kept "deliberately low-key." It added that since the start of Israel's war against Hamas – formally the Islamic Resistance Movement – the joint has been keeping "almost completely silent about plans to expand into Israel, with nothing more posted on any of their social media platforms after the original announcement." The company's Israeli leadership has refused repeated requests for an interview.
Ironically, Shake Shack's opening in Israel coincided with the Gaza Health Ministry's announcement that 18 people had died from malnutrition in the Strip since the war began. This sparked calls for an international boycott of the burger joint.
Several users took to social media to air their outrage and rebuke the burger joint's move to open in Israel.
"Shake Shack has opened in Israeli territory in a time of genocide. Shut [down] its branches in the Arab world," one user said. Outside of Israel, Shake Shack has branches in several Gulf countries – Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Others suggested alternatives to Shake Shack, with one user suggesting the Fat Cap burger shop in Kuwait.
Meanwhile, other users publicly vowed that they would never patronize Shake Shack anymore. One user issued a sarcastic response, inviting others to try out the chain's "blood of the innocent shake" and the "starving children" burger.
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