Asharq Al-Awsat

 The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday that Israel's restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza could amount to a war crime.

"The extent of Israel's continued restrictions on entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime," said UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.

Israel has denied obstructing the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

With the UN warning of imminent famine in Gaza, US President Joe Biden earlier this month ordered the US military to start airdrops of food into the enclave and has sent a temporary US port there to speed up delivery of maritime aid.

"In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine. We are in a state of famine... Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at a Brussels conference on aid for Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded that Borrell should "stop attacking Israel and recognize our right to self-defense against Hamas' crimes."