A top United Nations humanitarian official has warned that the world is failing to prevent genocide in Gaza, once again drawing a stark comparison with Sri Lanka’s 2009 genocide of Tamils.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, stated that “Gaza has been subjected to forced starvation by Israel,” and urged the international community to act urgently to prevent further atrocities.
“History will judge us,” Fletcher told BBC correspondent Fergal Keane. “I think that history will be tough in the way it judges us, and it must be.”
He cited past failures to intervene in mass atrocities, including in Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Sri Lanka. “I wanted to issue a warning to the Security Council that in previous cases – Rwanda, Srebrenica, Sri Lanka – the world had told us afterwards that we didn't act in time, that we didn't sound a warning, and ask that the world respond to prevent genocide. And that's my call for the Security Council – that you act to prevent genocide, announced in advance.”
“We can't say we didn't know what was happening,” he continued. “And all I'm asking is for the international community to be able to say and tell them we did what we could. That's what we're trying to do. And nothing we get thrown at us will stop us doing that.”
His remarks echo a speech delivered to the UN Security Council earlier this month, where Fletcher directly referenced the 2012 UN internal review on Sri Lanka, which acknowledged a “systemic failure” to protect Tamil civilians during the final months of the armed conflict in 2009. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed, primarily through indiscriminate shelling, targeted attacks on hospitals, enforced disappearances, and the deliberate denial of humanitarian aid.
The parallels drawn between the international community’s inaction in Gaza and Sri Lanka underscore a pattern of impunity for grave violations of international humanitarian law. “So, for those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need now?” Fletcher asked the Council during his 13 May address.
Fletcher has been stark in his condemnation of Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid, accusing the government of “deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
He further noted that despite binding provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel has yet to implement them, and continues to obstruct aid operations in violation of international law.
With 2.1 million people in Gaza now facing famine, and one in five already starving, Fletcher warned that hospitals are overwhelmed and medical workers are being targeted by sniper and drone fire.
His urgent appeal arrives in the wake of global commemorations marking the 16th anniversary of the Mullivaikkal genocide. Across the Tamil homeland and diaspora, thousands gathered to honour those killed in 2009 and to renew calls for international justice and recognition of the genocide.