‘Aid as humiliation’: Rights group slams Israel’s starvation tactics in Gaza

News Network
July 28, 2025

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Gaza, July 28: The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has condemned the resumption of aid airdrops in Gaza, branding them as a cynical tactic that deepens Palestinian suffering rather than providing real relief. The group accused Israel of deliberately starving Gaza’s population and using food aid as a weapon of war.

In a scathing statement issued Sunday, the Swiss-based organization said the airdrops — carried out Saturday evening with Israeli approval — are “an act of humiliation and degradation,” designed to mislead global public opinion and mask Israel’s “systematic starvation policy” that has driven Gaza into an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

According to Euro-Med, the reality on the ground is dire: over 2.3 million Palestinians are crammed into less than 15 percent of the besieged enclave, displaced by Israeli bombings and forced evacuation orders. The aid parachuted into this overcrowded zone is both insufficient and dangerous — often falling on tents, into the sea, or in areas under Israeli military control.

The group detailed Israel’s campaign of deliberate deprivation: mass famine, blocked land convoys, destroyed supply chains, and continued attacks on desperate civilians seeking food. It reported that in just the past two months, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while trying to collect aid at distribution points run under U.S.-Israeli supervision, and at least 1,200 elderly individuals have died from lack of food and medicine.

Euro-Med warned that the dismantling of the UN-run aid network — which once operated 400 distribution centers — has left the population without any fair or safe means to access food, water, and essential supplies. The organization called for urgent international action, including sanctions, asset freezes, travel bans, and suspension of military trade with Israel and its backers, particularly the United States.

The group also urged the enforcement of International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

“These airdrops are not humanitarian relief,” Euro-Med concluded. “They are a continuation of Israel’s war of humiliation — a spectacle designed to obscure, not end, the deliberate starvation of an entire people.”

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News Network
January 23,2026

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The Voice of Hind Rajab, inspired by the tragic final moments of a young Palestinian girl killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best International Feature Film category.

Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, the film recounts the true story of five-year-old Hind Rajab, who lost her life in January 2024 while fleeing Israeli bombardment with her family.

The film features the real audio of Hind’s desperate call to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, where she pleaded for help moments before the vehicle she was in was struck by 355 bullets.

The haunting narrative begins with a brief call made from the besieged Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza, where gunfire and armored vehicles drowned out every sound.

After witnessing the brutal killing of her family, she made a trembling call, her voice reduced to a whisper as she spoke of the massacre and her unbearable loneliness as the sole survivor.

Premiering at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2025, The Voice of Hind Rajab garnered widespread acclaim, receiving a record-setting 23-minute standing ovation and the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second-highest honor.

In her acceptance speech, Ben Hania dedicated the film to humanitarian workers and first responders in Gaza, emphasizing that Hind's voice symbolizes countless civilians affected by war.

She aims to give voice to victims often reduced to mere statistics, highlighting the broader suffering of civilians in war zones.

The film’s Oscar nomination underscores its powerful storytelling and ethical approach to depicting real-life tragedy, making it a crucial piece of contemporary cinema.

It serves not only as a narration of individual tragedy but also as an artistic and documentary response to the silence and censorship that often overshadow West Asian struggles and wars.

Using an innovative method she calls docufiction, Ben Hania bridges unvarnished reality and narrative structure, creating a work that is both artistically valuable and socially impactful.

Born in 1977 in Sidi Bouzid—later the epicenter of the Arab revolution—her background profoundly influenced her worldview and artistic approach.

She is a graduate of the Higher School of Audiovisual Arts of Tunis, Pantheon-Sorbonne University, and La Fémis in Paris, where her studies equipped her with the technical and theoretical tools needed to address complex subjects. 

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