The UN special rapporteur on the right to health says the only term that can describe Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip is genocide.
Speaking with the Turkish news agency Anadolu on Friday, Tlaleng Mofokeng said that Israel’s war machine is “literally destroying” people in the besieged Palestinian territory.
"I’m not in charge of prosecuting anybody," she said. “But when you have a group of people who have literally been exterminated, what else is there to declare it a genocide."
She said the situation in Gaza reflects an apartheid regime and occupation that meets the definition of "genocide."
"We know that people are trying to survive, but that’s really all they can do,” she added.
Mofokeng urged the international community to take immediate action to address the crisis and hold the Israeli regime accountable in international courts.
She also condemned the United States and its allies for supporting the regime in its genocidal war against the Palestinians.
“How many more children must die," she said, adding that people in Gaza are living a "daily nightmare."
Israel’s military campaign on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 37,834 people, including about 16,000 children, since early October, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
According to a recent report by Save the Children, at least 21,000 children are also missing in Gaza since the regime’s offensive began.
The charity, however, said that it is “nearly impossible” to collect and verify information under the current conditions in Gaza given the lack of access granted to aid agencies and forensic experts.
“Anyone who’s been to Gaza recently knows that these estimates are on the low end,” said Tanya Haj-Hassan, a healthcare worker in Gaza.
He said it was common after an Israeli airstrike for family members to come to Gaza’s Al-Aqsa hospital looking for their loved ones who were unaccounted for.
He said I believed that “those kids died buried under the rubble, and I don’t think those deaths are fully accounted for in these numbers.”
Earlier this month, the United Nations added Israel to its annual “list of shame” that features the offenders committing deadly violations against children.