Palestinians struggle to get their food rations ouside a crowded distribution centre in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. AFP
"The time for a moral reckoning over the treatment of Palestinians has come -- and it is long overdue," said Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The 46-member Council of Europe works to safeguard human rights and democracy.
"No cause, no matter how just or pure, can ever justify every means," Bakoyannis said in a statement.
"The mass killing of children and unarmed civilians, the deliberate starvation, and the relentless pain and humiliation inflicted upon Palestinians in Gaza must end."
Since March 2, Israeli forces have blocked all humanitarian aid entering Gaza for its 2.4 million inhabitants, now threatened with famine, according to several NGOs.
UN experts and aid groups have warned that Israel is using hunger as "a weapon of war".
US President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that "a lot of people are starving" in the besieged territory.
Addressing Israel, Bakoyannis warned, "What is unfolding in Gaza helps no-one".
Breaking a two-month ceasefire on 18 March, Israeli forces have killed at least 2,985 people and injured 8,173 others since resuming their genocide in Gaza.
Since 7 October 2023, Israel’s genocide has killed at least 53,119 Palestinians and wounded more than 120,214, mostly women and children, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry considered reliable by the UN.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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