As many as 1,000 rabbis from around the world have directly linked Israel to carrying out war crimes in Gaza by weaponising aid meant for the desperate and hungry Gazans.
According to the UN Palestinian refugee agency chief, Philippe Lazzarini, around 90,000 women and children are suffering from malnutrition in what relief groups describe as a man-made famine caused by the Israeli blockade.
Rabbis and prominent Jewish pro-life advocates and scholars from the US, UK, EU and Israel have signed an open letter suggesting that Jews “face a grave moral crisis.”
“The severe restrictions placed on the humanitarian relief in Gaza, the move to withhold food, water and medical supplies from those in need, contradict the values of Judaism as we understand it,” the letter stated.
They collectively called on Israel to “allow extensive aid relief” while preventing its diversion to Hamas.
They urged Israel to work quickly to ensure the “return of the captives currently under the custody of Hamas.”
The letter, published on Friday, had received 1,000 signatures by early Monday. Jonathan Wittenberg, a UK-based rabbi, reported last week that he was leading a campaign to break through “the callous indifference to starvation” and appeal to “the moral reputation not just of Israel, but of Judaism itself.”
While both sides have accused each other of targeting civilians near the aid distribution sites, testimonies from some of the GHF workers have recently suggested how the Israeli chain of command allows its soldiers to kill unarmed and desperate civilians near the aid sites.
Israel has pledged to improve the humanitarian response after facing massive international backlash over halting aid to poor Gazans.
Lazzarini, however, dismissed the measures as “a smokescreen,” accusing Israel of “whitewashing its image.”
“A hundred trucks of aid is nothing,” said Lazzarini. “If Israel were serious, it would allow the 6,000 aid trucks waiting to enter the enclave.”
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