RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL 

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa on Monday called on the international community to take immediate action to end Israel’s starvation campaign in the Gaza Strip, warning that famine is putting hundreds of children and civilians at imminent risk.

At a press briefing in Ramallah, held alongside representatives of UN agencies, Mustafa accused Israel of weaponizing hunger and deliberately obstructing humanitarian aid.

“Israel continues to use starvation as a tool of war,” he said. “Over 995 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for aid at what have become deadly ambush zones.”

He stressed that Israel, as an occupying power, is legally obligated under international law to ensure access to food, medicine, and other essentials — a responsibility he said it is systematically violating.

Mustafa urged world governments to pressure Israel to fully open Gaza’s crossings for the immediate and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance, including food, medical supplies, and fuel.

“Gaza has turned into a graveyard for children,” he said. “Some 900 children are in critical condition due to starvation. The world must not remain silent.”

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 86 people — including 76 children — have died from hunger and dehydration since October 2023. Gaza’s Government Media Office warned the enclave is “on the brink of mass death” after over 140 days of a near-total closure of all crossings.

Mustafa emphasized that the credibility of the international legal order depends on its ability to enforce its own principles, urging immediate intervention to prevent further atrocities.

His remarks coincided with a new diplomatic initiative by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who launched an international contact campaign to mobilize global efforts against Israel’s “crime of starvation.”

In a statement from the Palestinian mission to the UN, Abbas called on world leaders and institutions to “immediately intervene to stop the crime of starvation and secure the delivery of food and medical aid to Gaza.”

The statement also demanded action to end settler violence in the occupied West Bank — including attacks on Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem — and called for the release of frozen Palestinian tax revenues and the full lifting of Israel’s blockade on Gaza.

“These are not isolated violations,” the statement read. “They are part of a deliberate strategy of genocide, destruction, and collective punishment carried out with impunity.”

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza. The relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave, nearly collapsed its health system, and created famine-like conditions.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.