The international community has failed Palestinians, who have suffered violence, oppression, and domination at the hands of Israel since 1948. In Gaza, a blockade which started in 2007 has prevented many essential items from entering the strip, including medical and educational supplies, while ensuring that Israel can limit the calorific intake of Gazans, mandating that they should only receive just the amount of food to avoid malnutrition, and nothing more.
Gaza: a man-made starvation campaign
Fast-forward to the last 20 months, and Israel has now manufactured a campaign of deliberate starvation in Gaza, which is not only a war crime, but is being used as a genocidal tool and a mechanism to forcibly displace the population, not only from the North of the Strip but, eventually, out of Gaza altogether. To facilitate this plan, Israel’s Security Cabinet recently approved the establishment of a ‘Voluntary Emigration Bureau for Gaza residents interested in relocating to third countries’.
Rana Yassin, 27, lives in Tel al-Hawa in Northern Gaza, and is the mother of a two and a half year-old child. She has lost 10kg since the start of the genocide.
Yassin confided:
We used to be able to buy most things, when the borders were open, as Gaza’s products are normally cheap, but now people can’t get even the simplest things. If you have some money you can sometimes buy fish, but it is expensive because fishing is very risky. Fishermen are forbidden, by Israel, to enter the sea, but they risk their lives and go in anyway, so they can have something to eat and also get some income.
Most people here suffer from malnutrition, including me, my son and my husband. There is really no food, but the rare times when you find any it is so expensive. We have some money, and went looking for food today but found nothing. My family are hungry all the time, and low glucose levels means it’s really difficult to do normal everyday tasks, and we feel fatigued most of the time.
I am a person that normally remembers details, concentrates and am very good at studying, but now I have a lack of concentration and forget everything!
The flour that is available in the markets, costing US $35 for 1kg, is now rotten. There are parasites in it, and it smells, so we shouldn’t use it, but we have to. Most of us have bad stomachs and diarrhea all the time because of rotten flour and food. We depend on canned food, but it is so expensive and very difficult to find now. Those who have no money are really truly starving in these days in Gaza, and some have become criminals just to be able to get food for their children.
The number of crimes has increased a lot and now we have a curfew- after 7pm we cannot go to the streets because there are people that will kill you, if you have flour or any type of food. They are only aggressive because they have no other choices. They are just watching their children dying in front of their eyes and they cannot even provide them with bread. Before the war, even the people who had no money could eat well, because food was cheap and people helped each other. But now, even the rich can’t help the poor people, because they don’t have food either. It’s so difficult to stay OK in these conditions.
18.5kg: the average weight loss during the first seven months of the genocide
A study explored food insecurity and weight loss during the first seven months of the genocide among almost 500 residents of the Northern part of the Gaza Strip, aged between 13 and 83 years old. It found that the average weight loss was more than 18.5kg.
According to the study, not only was there a near-total lack of vegetable, fruit, and protein intake, which accelerates muscle-wasting, and may also cause deficiencies in vital minerals and vitamins, but the reduced quantity and quality of food will:
present a risk for a host of potentially serious and irreversible future complications.
More than a year since this study took place, the situation has become so much worse, with the UN now calling Gaza the “hungriest place on Earth”, and warning that the entire population is at risk of famine. Yet, waiting at the Rafah border there is enough food to feed one million people for up to four months. However, Israel has not allowed its entry into Gaza. The slow deaths of starving Palestinians is entirely intentional.
Dr Abed El Harazin says there are currently not enough medical staff in Gaza. He did what he could, working in both Al-Awda Hospital in the North, and Al-Aqsa Hospital in the South, for about 48 hours in each at a time when they were open.
El Harazin explained that:
Malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza, and emergency treatments to counter it are running out. Hunger could have a lasting impact on an entire generation, with more than one in five children malnourished at some sites.
The deliberate obstruction of food and relief aid to civilians in Gaza has been condemned by the United Nations human rights office, stating that such actions could amount to a war crime. As a physician witnessing these conditions firsthand, I can attest that the long-term effects of malnutrition are profound. Children are particularly vulnerable, facing risks of stunted growth, cognitive impairments, and increased susceptibility to diseases.
The blockade and ongoing conflict are not only causing immediate suffering, but are also jeopardising the future health and development of Gaza’s population. Immediate and unimpeded access to food, water and medical supplies is essential to prevent further loss of life, and to mitigate the long-term health consequences of this crisis.
Failing to actively prevent and punish genocide is complicity
Although in January 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found it “plausible that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide” and, in July of that year, that its “illegal occupation amounts to apartheid”, Western governments are silent over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its military control of the West Bank, and its systematic violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. They not only allow the illegal occupier to act with complete impunity, but also provide military and financial assistance.
The UK also fly spy planes over Gaza, from its air base in Cyprus, Akrotiri. But even those who are not actively supporting Israel are violating their legal obligations if they are signatories to the Genocide Convention – which the UK, Germany, the US, and others are – but fail to take all measures within their power to actively prevent and punish acts of genocide.
An initiative, collectively led by Palestinian civil society, and joined by almost 900 humanitarian and human rights organisations worldwide, has called for the immediate deployment of a Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy through the Rafah Crossing, so states can adhere to their international legal obligations, and try and break the inhumane illegal siege of Gaza.
International ‘inaction will lead to mass death in Gaza by starvation’
It urges the international community to halt Israel’s manufactured famine in Gaza, by sending official diplomatic missions to accompany the aid trucks which are waiting at the crossing, and to enter into Gaza with them.
Backed by a coalition of European and Arab states, with full UN support, and an international media presence to bear witness, the Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy could deliver urgent assistance where needed, while offering a workable, peaceful way to break the siege, end the starvation, and affirm the world’s rejection of hunger as a weapon of war”, since:
inaction will lead to mass death by starvation, enable further grave illegalities, and undermine the international legal system.
Individual diplomats, ministers, and MPs of complicit states are urged to come forward and participate in a personal capacity. The proposed date range for the convoy is June 10-15, but this has not yet been confirmed, as state approvals are still pending, and consultations with the UN are still ongoing.
States legally obliged to not only stop Israel’s war crimes, but to end its illegal occupation
Law for Palestine and other organizations took up the task of organising and coordinating the call for this Convoy.
Nourhan Fahmy is coordinator for the Convoy and also the Jurists for Palestine Forum at Law for Palestine, and says states bear the primary responsibility for taking action to stop Israel’s crimes, and confront the ongoing famine in Gaza.
She said:
Legally, according to the 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion, which concluded that the Israeli presence in the oPt is in itself unlawful and it must end as soon as possible, states bear obligations to bring this occupation to an end in addition to their obligation to stop the ongoing violations of international law, including genocidal acts.
In December 2024, a UN General Assembly Resolution called on Israel to comply with the Court’s Opinion and all other states to comply with their respective legal obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Morally speaking, states must not remain bystanders to a deliberate, man-made starvation inflicted upon the people of Gaza by deliberately preventing thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid from entering the Strip & devising an alternative scheme that has failed to deliver aid in a dignified and protective manner to the Palestinians.
Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy: a direct challenge to the unlawful blockade on Gaza
Other signatories of the Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy Now Initiative include:
Al-Haq is a Palestinian human rights NGO, based in the West Bank.
The organisation’s spokesperson told the Canary:
As Israel continues to weaponise food and aid distribution, subjecting Palestinians in Gaza to death by forced starvation and disease, it is long past time for states to fulfil their legal obligations: to end Israel’s siege, ensure unimpeded humanitarian access, and prevent this genocide from continuing.
Participating in this convoy is one concrete step they can take towards upholding these binding obligations. This convoy is not only a response to the mass starvation in Gaza – it symbolises a collective assertion of international law, a rejection of impunity, and a direct challenge to the unlawful blockade imposed on an entire vulnerable and occupied population. Sending senior diplomatic delegations signals that states will not remain silent in the face of such grave violations.
It confronts the use of starvation as a method of warfare and a genocidal act intended to create conditions of life calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. As we are likely witnessing the final stages of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, it represents action before it is too late.
Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) is an independent organisation which uses lawyers and investigators to help communities fight for justice across borders.
Gearóid Ó Cuinn, founding director of GLAN, highlighted the importance of states taking action against Israel. He said that:
For over 18 months, international law and the standards supposed to protect us all, have been steadily and recklessly dismantled with each atrocity committed in Gaza by Israel – in full view of world leaders. As the entire population is starved – it cannot be down to courageous individuals to break the siege.
Israel’s weaponisation of aid delivery is undermining the very foundations of humanitarianism. States around the world must stop preparing statements of outrage and finally take meaningful action to save lives. They must uphold their obligation to prevent genocide and deliver urgent, coordinated humanitarian assistance now.
An immediate humanitarian response needed by all governments
The Peace Cycle advocates for peace and justice in Palestine through cycling, and aims to raise awareness of the illegal occupation of Palestine.
Laura Abraham, founder of the Peace Cycle said:
The suffering in Gaza is horrific beyond anything I can imagine. After almost 18 months of incessant bombing and destruction of life and the means of life, the Gazan people are now being deliberately and systematically starved.
It is the responsibility of all people, of all nations, to respond with urgent aid and the demand for an immediate ceasefire. This is a man-made humanitarian catastrophe and the governments of the world must provide an immediate humanitarian response.
If governments do not respond, what are they for? What is the point of having leadership if it doesn’t protect people, if it allows people to be maimed and starved by the hundreds of thousands? To save our own humanity, we have to act now! I salute and support all those involved in the humanitarian diplomatic convoy to Gaza.
Defence for Children International (DCI) is also a signatory, supporting the calls for an immediate Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy. Khaled Quzmar is the director of the organisation’s Palestine branch, Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), and said:
The crime of genocide has continued for more than 600 days in the Gaza Strip, and has spread to the West Bank. Israel’s ban on the entry of food and medicine, the closure of all crossings, and the continued international silence have made a catastrophic situation for civilians under siege in Gaza.
It means a death sentence by starvation for more than one million Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, in addition to more than 1.3 million Palestinian adults.
Israel has not complied with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, or the appeals of international institutions and the United Nations operating in Palestine, while killing hundreds of humanitarian workers, doctors, and journalists without deterrence.
So Palestinian human rights organisations, and those around the world, have called for international intervention to force the state of Israel to respect international law and stop its mass killing of Palestinians. This is why the Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy is so important.
It’s all about destroying the Palestinians
Shahd Hammouri is an academic and international lawyer, and acted as a legal consultant on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. Hammouri is one of hundreds of international lawyers and legal experts who endorse the urgent and unified demand for a convoy.
She said:
Palestinian officials have declared Gaza’s man-made mass starvation to be a famine. Mothers cradle skeletal infants, scouring rubble for scraps. Fishermen shot dead for casting nets, chronically ill patients left without access to medication, aid trucks looted under the watch of Israeli drones. This is not collateral damage—it is a deliberate strategy to create conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza in whole or in part.
Currently, the only aid distributed throughout Gaza is by the US-Israel backed Global Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shady organisation of US mercenaries which has been accused, by the UN and other humanitarian organisations, of weaponising and politicising aid, of ‘drip-feeding food into an area on the verge of catastrophic hunger’, while Israel continues intensifying its airstrikes and ground operations.
The GHF is failing to meet even the most basic humanitarian standards, and is forcing desperately hungry Palestinians to endure interrogation and bullets at its chaotic distribution sites.
According to the Gaza government media office on Tuesday morning, 102 starving Palestinians accessing the GHF aid distribution sites have been killed, and 490 injured in just the first eight days of operation. It said that:
These so called ‘aid distribution centres’, established in exposed, dangerous red zones under full Israeli military control, have turned into ‘mass-death traps’. Starving civilians, driven by suffocating famine and a severe blockade, are lured into these locations only to be deliberately shot at in cold blood – a scene that epitomises the malice of this project, and exposes its true objectives.
The media office called on the United Nations, the Security Council, and all human rights organisations to:
act immediately and exert all available pressure to open official crossings unconditionally, without Israeli interference, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid through UN agencies and neutral international organisations- far from this deadly American-Israeli model.
It warned that the continued international silence is:
a stain on the conscience of humanity’ and ‘grants a green light for further atrocities.
Netanyahu: without international support ‘we won’t be able to complete the mission of victory’
The sole purpose of GHF is not to provide life-saving food for the malnourished and starving population of Gaza, but to quieten the growing international concerns, and ultimately to keep the war going until Gaza’s ethnic cleansing has been completed. Last month, Netanyahu explained his decision to allow ‘minimal humanitarian aid’ into Gaza by saying:
We must not reach a state of hunger – not for practical reasons, and not for political ones. They simply won’t support us, and we won’t be able to complete the mission of victory.
Hammouri said that:
This is not just about Gaza. It is about to what extent nations care about international law. Participation in the diplomatic convoy fulfils the bare minimum of state responsibility in the face of an illegal occupation and an ongoing genocide. If the world accepts Israel’s blockade—if we outsource morality to algorithms and private military contractors—we greenlight a future where might makes right. A humanitarian diplomatic convoy is not just about delivering food. It is about reclaiming the principle that no government has the right to decide who eats and who starves. The time for handwringing is over. The time for action is now.
The more states that join this initiative, the greater the likelihood this tactic of diplomatic pressure will succeed. So we need to show our support not only by raising awareness using social media, but also bringing up the call for the convoy to our representatives in parliament. In addition to the participation of states in a diplomatic humanitarian convoy, Palestinians are also demanding a complete embargo of the buying, selling, and transfer of arms and energy to Israel, suspension of all trade agreements and the sanctioning of Israeli officials.
Other international solidarity initiatives also aiming to break the seige in Gaza
Two civilian-led initiatives will also aim to break the illegal siege in Gaza this month.
The Freedom Flotilla’s Madleen is sailing from Sicily, towards Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and raise international awareness about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while the Global March to Gaza will see activists and health care professionals from more than 30 countries put pressure on international bodies to take action.
Participants will gather in Egypt on 12 June, and march to the Rafah border, where they will be as part of a week-long protest. The aim of the march is to negotiate the opening of the Rafah crossing with the Egyptian authorities, in collaboration with NGOs, diplomats, and humanitarian institutions.
Featured image via the Canary
