“We have entered the second winter season since the beginning of the genocidal war,” and Israeli authorities prohibited the entry of appropriate clothing, except for some small quantities, the organization criticized in a statement. No justification or military necessity in international law allows preventing the introduction of these essential elements to the civilian population, the Observatory stressed.

The NGO estimated that the objective of the measure is to impose harsh living conditions on the Palestinians to the point of killing them as part of the integral crime of genocide that is being committed there.

According to the organization’s data, since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023, only six percent of the trucks needed to feed the more than two million Palestinians living in the territory have entered Gaza. The quantities related to clothing and footwear did not exceed 0.001 percent, which caused a real crisis, it said, recalling that Israel destroyed at least 70 percent of the homes in the Strip, as well as most shops and markets, a situation that aggravated the problem.

These catastrophic conditions threaten to increase Palestinians’ exposure to serious diseases, such as respiratory infections, the Observatory noted and added that its field team observed children in Gaza walking barefoot through streets filled with debris and sewage due to the lack of shoes and wearing light, worn-out clothing in the rain.

“The absence of footwear increases children’s exposure to injuries and wounds, which makes them vulnerable to infections,” the NGO warned, adding that the Israeli army also prevents the entry of other essential items to protect against the winter cold, such as blankets, firewood, fuel, and heating sources.

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