In a new Israeli challenge to the international community, its legal and humanitarian institutions, and international court decisions, Israel decided to prevent the entry of goods, food, and medical supplies into the Gaza Strip (effective March 2, 2025). This decision was directly and publicly issued by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and endorsed by military and security officials, under the pretext of the conclusion of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal—as if the livelihood of Gaza’s residents was contingent upon such a deal. Netanyahu also refused to proceed to the second phase of the deal following coordination with the United States after a meeting with former US President Trump in Washington, who announced his support for Israel’s decisions concerning the second phase transition. The discussions on this phase were supposed to start on the 16th day after implementation, thus violating the agreement reached on January 19.
Netanyahu not only declared publicly that he would block the entry of food and medical supplies into Gaza but further announced a total electricity cutoff (March 10), causing severe humanitarian issues for hospitals, health centers, water pumping stations, and other vital daily necessities, also violating the humanitarian protocol attached to the agreement regarding opening crossings and delivering humanitarian aid. This led to criticism from the United Nations and several institutions, describing the Israeli decision as «a warning of an impending genocide.»
It has become clear that starvation is an official policy by Israeli institutions, repeatedly used as punitive measures against more than two million Palestinians. Gaza has been under a comprehensive land, sea, and air blockade for over 15 years. Since October 7, Israel has systematically used starvation alongside bombing civilian facilities and UN food warehouses, accompanied by explicit statements from Israeli officials and military leaders, indicating these were deliberate decisions taken at the highest political and military levels. Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant explicitly expressed the Israeli stance, saying: «We will impose a complete siege on Gaza—no electricity, no food, no water, no gas… everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and acting accordingly.»
It is unnecessary to reiterate that the use of starvation in warfare is prohibited, widely recognized under international humanitarian law and various international agreements categorizing it as a war crime. It is no secret to say that Israel›s use of starvation against Palestinians, regardless of justification, constitutes an explicit war crime. Nevertheless, the international community has not sufficiently addressed this crime or made adequate efforts to hold Israel accountable, failing to pressure Israel to permit humanitarian aid entry into Gaza and unable to halt its arrogant disregard for international human rights, political, and humanitarian institutions.
Israel resorts to the deliberate starvation of civilian populations to achieve political or military gains, using it as a tool of extortion aimed at exerting pressure on Palestinian resistance factions, either to lower their demands or to incite their popular support base to pressure them. However, regardless of the objectives or reasons, according to numerous United Nations agencies, the hunger, starvation, and famine occurring in the Gaza Strip are the direct outcomes of the unjust restrictions and severe blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza, preventing the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, forcibly displacing most of the population, and destroying civilian infrastructure.
The world rejects starvation… yet Gaza is starving
Since Israel announced at the start of its aggression on Gaza that it would cut off all food, medical supplies, and electricity, every concerned UN institution—humanitarian, legal, or political—has criticized these Israeli decisions, demanding their cessation. International organizations also condemned Israeli measures, classifying them as contrary to international law. Similarly, every official, state, and human rights figure condemned the Israeli decisions for their severe impact on civilians. Despite this, Israel continued its starvation policy, causing numerous civilian deaths, particularly among children and patients due to electricity outages.
• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated: «Israel, as an occupying power, is legally obligated to meet the needs of populations under its control. Denying humanitarian assistance to pressure one party in an armed conflict by imposing difficulties on all civilians raises serious concerns about collective punishment. Therefore, using starvation as a weapon constitutes a war crime.»
• The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food stated, «Israel’s denial of humanitarian aid to Palestinians constitutes a continuation of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Israeli economic and legal systems are designed for the annexation of Palestine.» Consequently, «Israeli officials responsible for the crime of starving Palestinians in Gaza and other war crimes must be held accountable.»
• The UNRWA Commissioner-General accused Israel of using humanitarian aid as a weapon to punish Palestinians through the blockade of goods and electricity cuts in Gaza, viewing the dismantling of UNRWA as an attempt to deprive Palestinians of life-saving aid.
• UNICEF stated that preventing the entry of relief materials into Gaza, including vaccines and respirators, would severely impact children, particularly neonatal care units unable to care for premature infants without medical supplies.
• The World Food Programme warned of imminent famine in Gaza, noting that its supplies had significantly depleted, barely sufficient for two weeks, prioritizing food distribution among residents facing Israel’s genocidal war.
• Human Rights Watch accused Israel of «starving Gaza›s population, violating binding orders from the International Court of Justice,» urging pressure on the Israeli government to lift its illegal blockade, restore electricity, and allow the entry of water, food, medical aid, and fuel. Amnesty International stated, «Israel›s decision to cut electricity from Gaza›s water desalination plant is cruel, unlawful, and tantamount to a weapon of war.»
• The European Union condemned Israel›s prevention of humanitarian aid entry, stressing it could cause severe humanitarian consequences, calling for ensuring safe and unrestricted humanitarian access and enabling relief organizations to operate within Gaza.
• Western and Arab states condemned the Israeli decision regarding aid, labeling it a violation of international law and collective punishment against civilians.
Starvation Policy and International Law
International law clearly states, through multiple treaties, that using starvation as a weapon is not only a crime but can also amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. This crime implicates not only the occupying state (Israel) but also third-party states that cooperate with or are complicit in its actions. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide explicitly calls on third-party states to exert their influence to prevent genocide. Consequently, the United States and several Western countries are either directly involved by supplying Israel with the means to commit these crimes or are complicit, as defined under Article 3 of the Convention.
Given Israel›s continuous violations of this convention and ICJ provisional measures (January 26, 2024), third states must ensure Israel›s compliance. States supporting Israel in various forms are also responsible either for failure to prevent genocide (Article 1) or complicity in genocide (Article 3). After 15 months of aggression, it is clear that the United States is the most influential, perhaps the only party capable of pressuring Israel to end its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
• Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the ICC defines genocide as «deliberately inflicting living conditions intended to destroy a group wholly or partially.» Article 7 further clarifies genocide includes deliberately depriving access to food and medicine.
• Article 2 of the 1948 Genocide Convention states that deliberately imposing living conditions intended to destroy a group constitutes genocide. The Fourth Geneva Convention obligates the occupying power to supply necessary food and medical supplies itself (Article 55).
• The UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2417 (May 24, 2018), highlighting the link between hunger and armed conflict, strongly condemning starvation of civilians as a means of warfare.
• The ICJ obligated Israel (January 26, 2024) to provide basic services and urgently needed humanitarian aid. After non-compliance, South Africa requested further emergency measures (March 6) to avert «mass starvation.» The ICJ issued additional measures (March 28, 2024) compelling Israel to prevent ongoing famine.
The world and its various institutions no longer need to search for legal texts to confirm the accusations that Israel is committing criminal acts that surpass the horrors of genocide and crimes against humanity, although dozens of international legal institutions explicitly state that Israel is using starvation as a weapon in its comprehensive war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Numerous reports from international institutions have documented Israel’s commission of war crimes by weaponizing food and water against civilians in Gaza. However, the result remains that international law is being violated in Gaza, and criminals continue committing their crimes with impunity. This has led many to repeatedly assert that if Israel had been punished for its crimes since the very first day of occupying Palestine in 1948, it would not have dared commit the hundreds of subsequent crimes resulting in tens of thousands of martyrs.
The weapon of hunger and thirst is no longer merely a tool of blackmail to pressure the Palestinian people and their resistance into accepting Israeli conditions; it is also a means to enforce the scheme of mass forced displacement. Thus, today we clearly face two declared crimes: first, the crime of genocide through weaponizing starvation and thirst, and second, the crime of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing—recognized as one of the crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute (Article 7). International frameworks, particularly legal bodies, must acknowledge this issue, both in current cases before them and those presented in the future.
International bodies such as the ICC and ICJ must document Israel’s crime of weaponizing starvation and humanitarian aid, including this in Netanyahu›s ICC arrest warrant file. Israeli officials› statements acknowledging their responsibility for starving Palestinians must be recorded.
Israel repeatedly acts as if above international law, disregarding condemnations from global institutions and routinely weaponizing accusations of antisemitism against critics. Holding Israel accountable remains a critical test for the international community›s credibility and integrity. The crimes committed—deliberate starvation, targeting civilians, collective punishment, and forced displacement—are undeniably war crimes and a profound disgrace for Israel and its supporters.
The battle against Israel and confrontation with its policies and practices is no longer merely against a UN member state, nor against an occupying power refusing to recognize the rights of a people whose roots run deep in history, nor against an entity spreading death and destruction everywhere and threatening to expand it throughout the region. Above all, it is a battle for justice, rights, and international law against the law of the jungle. Therefore, holding Israel accountable for all its crimes remains the measure of the international community›s credibility and its organizations, especially given that what Israel has committed in Gaza constitutes clear war crimes: killing women and children, targeting civilian infrastructure without military necessity, bombing international headquarters, hospitals, schools, and universities, and forcibly displacing the population. These are all crimes awaiting accountability and punishment of the Israeli war criminals, especially since starvation has become a weapon, a «war crime,» and a profound disgrace for Israel and its supporters.