The undersigned international legal and human rights organizations express their deep outrage and categorical rejection of the recent statements made by the U.S. Envoy to the Middle East, Mr. Steve Whitkoff, in which he denied the existence of famine in the Gaza Strip.
Such remarks blatantly ignore the well-documented realities on the ground and the numerous international reports confirming an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe that threatens the lives of over two million Palestinians.
In response to this denial of reality, we affirm the following:
Evidence cannot be erased by statements: Famine in Gaza is an undeniable reality, having claimed the lives of 159 people, including 90 children, a documented toll that illustrates the scale of a crime that no rhetoric can justify or erase. This humanitarian tragedy spares no one, not even Israeli captives, who have been visibly affected by hunger and malnutrition, as shown in circulated footage.
Call for an international fact-finding mission: We urge the United Nations and the Security Council to urgently dispatch an independent international fact-finding mission to Gaza to directly assess the humanitarian disaster on the ground and investigate the systematic use of famine, which constitutes a war crime.
Immediate legal action: We call on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accelerate its investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a weapon, and to hold all perpetrators accountable.
Immediate and lasting ceasefire: We urge the international community to enforce an immediate and lasting ceasefire, which is essential to ensure unimpeded humanitarian access and to protect civilians, rescue teams, and medical personnel.
Access for journalists: We call on the international community to exert immediate pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to lift the media blackout that has been in place for over ten months and to allow unrestricted access for international journalists and media correspondents to Gaza, so the truth about the famine and genocide can be exposed.
Call to complicit governments: We issue a clear call to governments that support or enable the starvation policy, or that obstruct the delivery of aid—such as the United States—to assume their legal and moral responsibilities and ensure the unhindered delivery of vital humanitarian assistance.
Signatories:
Dhamir Network (International Network against Genocide, Displacement, Blockade, and Normalization)
Voix Libre for Human Rights – France
Al-Shehab for Human Rights – London
Alkarama for Human Rights – Geneva
Association of Victims of Torture – Geneva
Justice Foundation for Human Rights – Istanbul
IFDD International Organization – Belgium
Tawasol for Human Rights – The Hague
Human Rights Monitor – London
Cedar for Human Rights – Lebanon
Solidarity for Human Rights – Geneva
Egyptian Rights Council – Geneva
Arab Center for Media Freedom
Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms
Najda Organization for Human Rights