The UN Security Council expressed fears that Israel is using the famine in Gaza as a means of warfare

On Wednesday, October 16, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was held to discuss the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. France, Great Britain and Algeria insisted on holding the meeting.

According to US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US administration demanded evidence from Jerusalem that Israel is not using the famine in the Gaza Strip as a weapon of war. She said that “pursuing a policy of starvation would be horrific and unacceptable” and “under international and US law there would be consequences.”

“The Israeli government maintains that supplies of food and other essential goods to Gaza will continue. We are monitoring how this plays out in practice,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

The UN Security Council meeting took place the day after it became known about a letter with an ultimatum, which was sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. It said the US could cut off arms deliveries if Israel does not take steps to ensure aid access to the northern Gaza Strip. In order to comply with the request of the Joe Biden administration, Israel is given 30 days.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield also warned that Israel should not label residents of the northern Gaza Strip as militants simply because they refuse to comply with an Israeli army order to evacuate.

Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, Danny Danon, said that the famine in the Gaza Strip is a consequence of the fact that the humanitarian aid that arrives there in sufficient quantities falls into the hands of Hamas and does not reach those who need it. “The problem is Hamas, which steals and resells humanitarian aid to fuel its terror machine,” Danon said.