OPINION - Starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza

* Mutaz M. Qafisheh is Professor of International Law at Hebron University. Manal Radaydeh is a Researcher in International Diplomacy at Hebron University.

ISTANBUL

The famine raging in Gaza is not a side effect of war. It is the outcome of a willful and publicly declared plan aimed at displacing and destroying Gazans by starving the entire population. This is not a natural disaster—it is the systematic denial of access to food in a tiny, resource-scarce strip of land. Starvation is being used as a weapon—to break people’s will, force surrender, collectively punish, and carry out ethnic cleansing.

Nearly two months after the ceasefire collapsed, Israeli forces tightened the blockade on Gaza, sealing border crossings and halting all entry of food, water, medicine, and fuel. According to the World Food Program (WFP), food stocks had already run out by April 2024, and conditions have worsened significantly since March. Even modest charity kitchens that once served over a million meals daily have now ceased operations. WFP reported that the prices of the few remaining food items have surged by over 1,400%.

Malnutrition and imminent death

This crisis is affecting everyone, but children are paying the heaviest price. UNICEF reported that over 60,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition. As a result, thousands face imminent death. Most children survive on a single meal a day—or less. The lack of proper nutrition is damaging their bodies and minds in ways that may never be reversed. Satellite footage shows infants drinking water instead of milk. Many have withered to skeletons.

It is crucial to underline that this man-made hunger is not accidental. It is the explicit outcome of political decisions targeting civilians. Under international humanitarian law—particularly Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention—all parties in a conflict must allow the free flow of humanitarian aid to civilians. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has described this famine as “cruel collective punishment.”

On Nov. 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare—characterized as a war crime. This came after a unanimous order by the International Court of Justice on March 28, 2024 in the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. The ICJ ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective measures without delay to ensure the unhindered, large-scale provision of urgently needed services and humanitarian aid—food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene, sanitation, and medical care—to Palestinians throughout Gaza. Yet Israel continues to act as if it were above the law.

Today, Gaza’s food system is completely destroyed: bakeries bombed, farms bulldozed, fishing boats burned, livestock killed, warehouses flattened, shops emptied, and aid trucks blocked or turned away. OCHA warns that famine is either imminent or already unfolding. And yet, the siege continues—on top of systematic daily bloodshed.

Collapse of health care

The suffering is not only physical. As hunger spreads, so does the risk of disease, especially among children, the elderly, and the chronically ill. The health care system has collapsed. People with chronic diseases—cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and kidney failure—are dying. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor recently documented the deaths of 14 elderly people due to malnutrition, among many others who perish in silence, with no one to record their plight.

The coming months and years will reveal the far-reaching consequences of the famine that struck Gaza in full view of world leaders—some of whom encouraged or were complicit in the starvation of 2 million innocent civilians. The world—particularly Europe and the Arab nations—can, if it chooses, put an end to these genocidal acts against children, the elderly, the sick, and the exhausted.

It is unimaginable. How is it possible that in the 21st century—an age of smartphones and social media—the international community watches a live-streamed famine unfold and does nothing? What has brought us to this moral and legal vacuum? If famine is tolerated this time, it will be normalized and replicated elsewhere. That would mean the erosion of values humanity has struggled for centuries to uphold.

It’s time for action, not just words. History will judge. History is here. And history is now.

* Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu's editorial policy.