Video footage showing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir berating and taunting Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi face-to-face inside an Israeli jail is unacceptable. The minister's behaviour and the publication of the footage constitute an attack on Barghouthi's dignity.
International law requires that all those in detention be treated humanely, with dignity, and their human rights respected and protected. Such conduct by the minister responsible for the Israeli Prison Service may encourage violence against Palestinian detainees, enabling human rights violations in Israeli detention facilities.
Meanwhile in Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks in the north of the strip.
The Israeli military has also continued to issue displacement orders for Palestinians, including those in Gaza City, telling them to move to Al Mawasi area, even as strikes on this area continue. On 16 and 17 August, we recorded five attacks on tents of internally displaced people in Al Mawasi, killing at least nine people.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced to Al Mawasi have little or no access to essential services and supplies, including food, water, electricity and tents.
The risk of starvation is everywhere in Gaza. This is a direct result of the Israeli Government's policy of blocking humanitarian aid. In the past few weeks, Israeli authorities have only allowed aid to enter in quantities that remain far below what would be required to avert widespread starvation.
Reaching the meagre supplies available can be a deadly pursuit. Since 27 May and up until 17 August, we have documented that 1,857 Palestinians were killed while seeking food, including 1,021 killed in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 836 killed on the routes of supply trucks. Most of these killings appear to have been committed by the Israeli military.
