Gaza Strip famine

The population of the Gaza Strip is facing starvation and famine as a result of Israeli airstrikes during the Israel–Hamas war and an Israeli blockade, including of basic essentials and humanitarian aid. Airstrikes have destroyed food infrastructure, such as bakeries, mills, and food stores, and there is a widespread scarcity of essential supplies due to the blockade of aid. A survey in May 2024 suggested 85% of children under five in Gaza spent entire days without food. This situation has caused starvation for more than half a million Gazans and is part of a broader humanitarian crisis in the Strip. It is the "highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger" recorded on the IPC scale since its inception in 2004, and according to experts, may be the most intense man-made famine since the Second World War.

According to the latest projections, valid from mid-March through July of 2024, the entire population in the Gaza Strip is classified in Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3 - Crisis, or above. 38% of the population is in IPC Phase 4 - Emergency, and 50% is in IPC Phase 5 - Catastrophe, with the risk of famine imminent. According to Oxfam, the levels of starvation in Gaza are the "highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population". As of early-March 2024, Gaza met at least two of the three conditions for an IPC-designated famine. Due to the lack of media and humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, particularly the northern region, the IPC Analysis Team was not able to determine whether the final threshold - a crude death rate above 2 per 10,000 per day - had been met, but it projects that it will be met between mid-March and May 2024. As of April 2024, US officials and agencies have confirmed that a famine has begun in the Gaza Strip. The State Department has said that a famine likely began in late March, and USAID Administrator Samantha Power called the assessment that a famine is ongoing "credible" during a congressional hearing on 10 April. A USAID report leaked to Devex on 26 April called famine in Gaza "inevitable" and said in its title that "changes [in Israeli policy] could reduce but not stop widespread civilian deaths."

Although there is evidence that Gazans, particularly in the northern governates of Gaza, are experiencing famine today, global leaders have not yet issued a formal declaration of famine. The IPC itself does not issue declarations of famine. The Center for Strategic and International Studies says that "Famine declarations convey significant political and emotional weight and the expectation of action from the international community," and that "leaders may be waiting for a future IPC assessment, presumably concluding that famine conditions have been in place for a period of time, before making an official declaration of famine." In May 2024, the head of the World Food Programme stated there was "full-blown famine" in northern Gaza. In June 2024, the director of humanitarian policy for Save the Children stated that famine-like conditions "may already be present" in southern Gaza.

On 19 March, Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, stated that Israel's restrictions on the entry of aid may constitute starvation as a weapon of war, which would be a war crime. In March 2024, experts, such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, warned that Gaza might already be experiencing famine; while Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, stated that "large-scale famine mortality" would soon begin. Epidemiological forecasts project future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.

The Israeli government has denied it is using starvation as a weapon of war and said that arguments that its actions regarding the famine violate the Genocide Convention are "wholly unfounded". COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for allowing aid into Gaza, has stated Israel was not putting limits into the amount of aid entering Gaza. COGAT's claim has been challenged by multiple entities, including the European Union, United Nations, Oxfam, and United Kingdom. Israel has accused Gaza's government of "aid theft"; however, US officials said they do not have evidence to support Israel's claims.

Before the 2023 war

It has been argued that "thoroughly planned impoverishment" has been a long-term policy of Israel for the Gaza Strip. According to Sara Roy, a leading expert on the Gazan economy,

The current desecration of Gaza is the latest stage in a process that has taken increasingly violent forms over time. In the fifty-six years since it occupied the Strip in 1967, Israel has transformed Gaza from a territory politically and economically integrated with Israel and the West Bank into an isolated enclave, from a functional economy to a dysfunctional one, from a productive society to an impoverished one. It has likewise removed Gaza's residents from the sphere of politics, transforming them from a people with a nationalist claim to a population whose majority requires some form of humanitarian aid to sustain themselves.

In the early 2000s, the Gaza Strip witnessed a period of increasing tensions that had a profound impact on its economic and agricultural sectors. During this time, a relatively small number of Israeli settlers lived in the Gaza Strip, yet they controlled a significant portion of the territory's valuable resources. Specifically, these settlers had access to about 25% of the Strip, an area that included 40% of Gaza's arable land, as well as a substantial share of its water resources, limiting the availability of land and water for the Palestinian population. In addition, during that period Israel had imposed restrictions on imports of cooking fuel and gas into Gaza. The restrictions on imports, including cooking fuel and gas into Gaza by Israel, stem from a mix of security concerns and responses to violence. These measures, part of a broader blockade, are contested internationally and criticized for exacerbating economic and living conditions in Gaza.

After Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Palestinian elections were held in 2006, which Hamas won. In response to the election results, Israel designated the governing party and the Gaza Strip as a "hostile entity," implementing a blockade along with economic sanctions and restrictions. Dov Weissglas explained, "We have to make them much thinner, but not enough to die," the idea being "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." Prior to the blockade, Gaza's population stood at 1,6 million, serviced by 400 trucks carrying goods into the Strip every day. Under the new policy, according to the Israeli NGO Gisha, Israel permitted only 106 trucks entry to deliver goods. In the following decades, the number of humanitarian trucks permitted to enter Gaza would vary, depending on several factors such as the political situation, security issues, agreements between Israel and Palestinian authorities, and interventions by international organizations. To obtain permission to import any commodity into the Strip, proof had to be supplied that they were indispensable, often causing delays and complications in the supply of humanitarian aid.

Diplomatic cables subsequently published by WikiLeaks revealed that Israel had informed the United States in 2008 that, while it would take measures to prevent a humanitarian crisis, it intended to keep Gaza's economy on the "brink of collapse". Precise calculations were made to determine the minimum calorific requirement (2,279 calories per person a day) to avoid malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, and these formed the basis for Israel's determination of the truck numbers for food supplies from 2007 to 2010. The calculation excluded factors such as the collapse of agriculture due to the blockade which dried up access to seed markets. Restrictions on foodstuffs included basic commodities like pasta, -that particular item was reintroduced after John Kerry protested at its inclusion in the list of banned imports- and any delicacies, such as honey, sesame snack halvah, bamba, tea, coffee, sausages, semolina, milk products in large packages, most baking products and limitations on meat and domestic cooking gas.

The Goldstone Report discovered that during the 2008-2009 Gaza War, Israel’s invasion had caused deliberate and massive destruction of Gaza’s agricultural sector. Israel also declared 30% of the most arable land in the Strip no-go zones. After 2012, the Red Cross secured an agreement to allow Gazan farmers to cultivate crops of various heights, in areas respectively at 300 metres to 1 kilometre from Israel's fortified border fence. Both cultivators and their rudimentary irrigation devices nonetheless were often exposed to sniping and automated machinegun fire, and crops along the armistice line were, without warning, sprayed by Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Likewise, Israel placed severe restrictions on fishing within Gaza's waters — the 20 nautical miles agreed to under the Oslo Accords were unilaterally reduced to nine — with fishable areas demarcated with buoys In 2009 Israel further reduced this to a 3 nautical mile limit with the result that 85% of Gaza's fishing water was blocked by Israeli warships. Israeli gunships reportedly fired on local fishermen even within these areas.

In the 2010s, some Israeli politicians denied the charge of using the blockade to deliberately cause harm or "humanitarian damage" to Palestinian civilians. Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said on 25 October 2010 "There is not, and never was, any intention to harm the Palestinian population living in Gaza". In 2008, former prime minister Ehud Olmert said "We won't allow for a humanitarian crisis, but we have no intention of making their lives easier."

In August 2023, it was reported that 12,076 truckloads of authorized goods entered Gaza, reflecting a slight improvement in the volume of goods allowed into the territory compared to previous periods. Despite these inflows, the volume of goods remained insufficient, given the 60% increase in population since 2007 and the escalating needs of the Gazan population.

The humanitarian impact of the blockade is compounded by recurrent hostilities, which not only result in high casualty rates but also further degrade Gaza's already fragile infrastructure. The United Nations and various human rights organizations have repeatedly called for the lifting of the blockade and for increased humanitarian access to alleviate the suffering of Gaza's residents. The situation in 2023, where the region has witnessed the highest number of fatalities since 2005, underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive and lasting solution to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Start of crisis

Following the 7 October attack, Israel announced on 9 October that it was blocking the entry of food into Gaza. The blockage, according to the Israeli government, is aimed to neutralize Hamas as a security threat, including preventing military resources from being smuggled under the guise of humanitarian aid. Because Gaza was already mostly reliant on food aid, the repercussions were felt immediately. On 18 October, Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme, stated that the population of Gaza was at risk of starvation. Three days later, the UN released a statement saying food stocks were nearly exhausted. By 23 October, Cindy McCain, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, stated people were "literally starving to death as we speak".

On 27 October, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme stated food and other basic supplies were running out. On 3 November, UN officials stated the average Gazan diet consisted of only two pieces of bread per day, and ActionAid stated more than half a million Gazans faced death by starvation. On 11 November, Corinne Fleischer, Middle East regional director of the World Food Programme, stated, "hundreds of people are queueing for hours every day to get bread rations at bakeries," as people were being pushed "closer to starvation."

Damage

Damage to infrastructure

On 18 October 2023, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a bakery in the Nuseirat Camp, killing four bakers. On X, Refaat Alareer wrote the bakery was one of the last in the central and southern Gaza Strip. On 19 October, several more bakeries were reportedly hit by Israeli airstrikes. By 24 October, many bakeries had reportedly closed down, while those still open had hours-long lines. By 28 October Israeli airstrikes had destroyed a fifth of the bakeries operating in the Strip. On 1 November, Israel bombed one of the last remaining bakeries in Gaza City. On 2 November, UNOCHA stated more than half of all bakeries in Gaza had been destroyed. On 8 November, UNOCHA stated northern Gaza no longer had any functioning bakeries. On 14 November, Israel bombed Gaza's last operating flour mill. Israeli bombings destroyed Gaza's fishing boats and ports. An estimated 22 percent of farmland was destroyed by 12 December 2023. Warehouses, food factories, and lorries were also damaged and destroyed by Israeli bombings.

UNOSAT found that by February 2024, 33 percent of Gaza's agricultural land had been damaged due to "razing, heavy vehicle activity, bombing, shelling". In June 2024, one of Deir al-Balah's only two flour mills was hit by an Israeli missile, also damaging a World Food Programme warehouse.

Damage to the environment

Growing threat of famine

Cindy McCain stated on 17 November that civilians faced the immediate possibility of starvation. Ten days later, McCain stated Gaza was on the brink of famine, as begging for food became the "new norm." On 7 December, the WFP stated 97% of households had inadequate food consumption and 83% in southern Gaza were surviving through "extreme consumption strategies." By 10 December, the UN, international aid organizations, and relief workers in Gaza warned of mass starvation. A representative for Medical Aid for Palestinians stated, "The hunger wars have started." On 15 December, the United Nations estimated nine out of ten residents were not eating food every day.

The IDF has alleged Hamas stole humanitarian aid; killed people seeking humanitarian aid; and keeps its own supply reserves. The US and the UN both denied Israeli claims that Hamas plays a significant role in causing the famine, with a senior US official stating that "the Israeli government has not brought to the attention of the US government… any specific evidence of Hamas theft or diversion of assistance provided via the U.N. and its agencies. Full stop."

On 20 December, the United Nations stated people in Gaza were experiencing "alarming levels of hunger never before witnessed in Gaza". On 21 December, the United Nations stated more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were starving. On 1 December, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, based on a committee of independent experts, placed almost the entire population of Gaza (93% or 2.08 million) at IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) with 79 percent in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 15% (378,000 people) in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). On 22 December, UNICEF warned of the increasingly growing threat of famine in the Gaza Strip. On 29 December, Mercy Corps stated half a million people faced "catastrophic hunger and starvation". By 1 January 2024 ninety percent of Palestinians in Gaza regularly went without food. On 27 February 2024, Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of the World Food Programme, told the United Nations Security Council that more than 500,000 people were at risk of imminent famine in Gaza.

On 30 April 2024, when rendering its verdict in the Nicaragua v. Germany genocide case, the International Criminal Court said that it remained concerned about the situation in Gaza, "In particular, in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which they have been subjected". In its March 2024 interim ruling, the ICJ stated, "The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (...) but that famine is setting in."

Famine

On 3 January 2024, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Programme, stated 80 percent of all people in the world experiencing famine or catastrophic hunger were in the Gaza Strip, stating, "In my life, I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of severity". Food prices rose in Gaza as food stocks were "running low".

The United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths stated on 5 January 2024, "People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded." Alex de Waal, an expert on humanitarian crises and international law, stated, "The rigor, scale and speed of the destruction of the structures necessary for survival, and enforcement of the siege, surpasses any other case of man-made famine in the last 75 years." António Guterres stated, "The long shadow of starvation is stalking the people of Gaza".

On 16 January 2024, UNOCHA reported 378,000 people in Gaza were in IPC Phase 5, or catastrophic levels of hunger. It reported all 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip were facing acute food insecurity – the highest proportion of a population experiencing starvation in recorded history. The Famine Review Committee (FRC) which compiled the Gaza data on famine in terms of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on 1 December 2023, forecast that the total population will be at Phase 3 by 7 February and that 25% or 500,000 Gazans will reach Phase 5.

On 21 January 2024, a journalist in the Gaza Strip reported that people were making flour using animal food. On 21 January 2024, the UN reported there were only fifteen bakeries still in operation across the entirety of the Gaza Strip. By 30 January 2024, CNN reported that Palestinians were eating grass to stay alive. On 31 January, the World Health Organization's emergencies director stated, "This is a population that is starving to death." On 12 February, the Food and Agriculture Organization stated there were "unprecedented levels of acute food insecurity, hunger, and near-famine-like conditions in Gaza." Israel attacked fishermen in Deir el-Balah attempting to catch fish to eat.

On 17 February 2024, ActionAid stated that "every single person in the territory" was facing famine levels of hunger, stating that people had even run out of animal feed to eat. By March, bird feed in northern Gaza had run out and people ate livestock feed. On 3 March, the Gaza government media office stated, "the famine is still deepening". On 7 March, UNOCHA stated that the annual rate of food inflation was 118 percent in January 2024, while the consumer price index for food rose nearly 105 percent. Philippe Lazzarini stated on 30 April that “there is more food available on the market”, but “no cash circulating” in northern Gaza, making the food inaccessible.

In May 2024, the World Food Programme reported, "The threat of famine in Gaza never loomed larger". The United Nations humanitarian chief stated famine in Gaza was an "immediate, clear and present danger" as food ran out and humanitarian operations were stuck. The Gaza media office said 98 percent of bakeries were closed. In June 2024, the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization stated in a joint statement that more than 1 million people could face severe starvation within a month.

Southern Gaza

On 7 January, the UNRWA deputy director reported severe hunger in southern Gaza, stating, "I don't know how much more they can bear before something explodes in the southern part of Gaza". On 11 February, the mayor of Rafah stated the city was facing famine and that available supplies were only enough for 10 percent of the population. Long queues for food were reported in Rafah. On 15 February, UNOCHA stated there was "an urgent need to establish a stabilisation centre in Rafah for treating children suffering from severe malnutrition". UNOCHA stated on 17 February that people in Rafah were in "such dire need that they stop aid trucks to take food and eat it immediately". On 19 February, Israeli gunboats fired at fishermen attempting to catch fish off the coast of Rafah. A 73-year-old displaced woman stated on 25 February, "I have never witnessed the starvation like this… Death for us is much better than our current life".

In May 2024, Israel launched a military offensive in Rafah, seizing and closing the Rafah crossing, one of two major crossings for humanitarian aid in Gaza. Martin Griffiths, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, stated, "Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed and we are prevented from helping them." In an assessment report, UNOCHA stated the closure of Rafah crossing and Israel's assault would have "serious consequences" for food and nutrition services. The UN ceased food distribution in Rafah on 21 May 2024, stating that humanitarian operations were on the verge of collapse, and if food supplies did not begin entering "in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread". On 30 May, the World Food Programme stated food access was so constrained that southern Gaza was at risk of the same levels of catastrophic hunger as the north.

Northern Gaza

As a combination of even more limited supplies than the south, and as a result of a 7-month siege and encirclement, the famine and overall humanitarian situation in Northern Gaza is much more severe than the south. On 13 January The Guardian reported that The World Food Programme had stated that nine out of ten people in northern Gaza were eating less than a meal a day. The World Health Organization stated on 25 January 2024 that the food situation was "absolutely horrific" in northern Gaza, with rare aid deliveries mobbed by visibly starved people with sunken eyes. A Mercy Corps team member reported he had witnessed such intense overcrowding of thousands around two food aid trucks in northern Gaza that two people suffocated to death. An relief worker with Al Baraka, an Algerian charity, stated northern Gaza was on the verge of famine, saying, "Almost no relief aid has been delivered to the people here since the beginning of Israel's aggression."

On 10 February 2024, the Gaza Media Office stated, "We immediately demand the entry of a thousand trucks daily into northern Gaza until it recovers from the famine". On 15 February, Al Jazeera reported that people in northern Gaza were going days and even weeks without sufficient food. The Food and Agriculture Organization stated that distributing food in northern Gaza remained a challenge as it was "barely accessible". To survive, people ate animal feed, herbs, weeds, and grass. A UNOCHA representative stated, "There are about 300,000 people in the north and I have no idea how they've survived". In late-February 2024, a grain mill in northern Gaza shut down due to a lack of fuel.

On 20 February 2024, the World Food Programme stated it would cease aid delivery to northern Gaza. In response to the announcement, the Gaza Media Office stated it was "a death sentence for three-quarters of a million people". On 24 February, UNRWA announced it was also suspending humanitarian services in northern Gaza. Families in Jabalia refugee camp reported being so hungry they ate scraps, leaves, and their horses. One man in Jabalia stated, "We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger." Al Jazeera reported that two sisters searching for food on 25 February had been shot and claimed that Israeli Army was responsible for the incident. Thousands of people in Gaza City waited for a possible delivery of flour on 25 February.

On 27 February 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry stated, "What is happening in northern Gaza is a true famine... This escalating famine could kill thousands of citizens due to malnutrition and dehydration in the coming days in front of the eyes of the world." A man in the Jabalia refugee camp stated children "are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger. What can we do?" On 17 March 2024, 13 aid trucks arrived in Jabalia and Gaza City without incident, for the first time in months. In late-March 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification placed northern Gaza in Phase 5, its most severe stage. Analysis from the Food and Agriculture Organization found widespread destruction in Gaza's agricultural sector, including the deaths of 60 percent of milk cows, 70 percent of cattle stock, and 60 percent of small ruminants like goats and sheep.

On 29 March 2024, the US State Department stated that famine in northern Gaza "quite possibly is present in at least some areas". A UNOCHA spokesperson stated people faced "cruel death by famine". By late March, the growing season for khobiza, a wild plant eaten in northern Gaza, was ending, which journalist Moath al-Kahlout stated "will lead to an even more horrific famine". The UN stated 30 percent of its March 2024 aid missions had been denied. In April 2024, Oxfam reported that people in northern Gaza were surviving on an average of 245 calories a day.

On 3 May 2024, Cindy McCain, American director of the U.N. World Food Programme, said "There is famine — full-blown famine — in the north, and it’s moving its way south." In early-June 2024, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network stated, "It is possible, if not likely" that famine was underway in northern Gaza.

Humanitarian aid

On 9 January, Gisha reported that only 6,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza since 7 October, the equivalent of twelve days of aid before the conflict's start. Colonel Moshe Tetro, who heads the Israeli unit overseeing deliveries of humanitarian aid, stated that there was no food shortage in Gaza and that existing reserves are sufficient. Another Israeli official stated, "Don't forget that this is an Arab, Gazan population whose DNA is to hoard, certainly when it comes to food."

Officials stated that the worsening crisis was partly attributable to the limited amount of aid being allowed into Gaza, with Cindy McCain stating, "People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food". Arif Husain, the WFP chief economist, stated on 24 January that only between 20 and 30 percent of needed aid was entering Gaza, as UNOCHA accused Israel of "systematically denying" humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza.

On 1 February 2024, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for unrestricted humanitarian access, stating, "Everyone in Gaza is hungry." Human Rights Watch stated that the decision of 18 countries to defund UNRWA risked hastening the famine. The World Food Programme stated on 2 February that aid to northern Gaza was being overwhelmingly rejected by the Israelis. Journalist Abubaker Abed stated, "Families eat strategically, just to stay alive."

While speaking to CNN reporters in February 2024, some Palestinians stated humanitarian aid was being resold on the black market, with packages already opened. Israeli airstrikes around certain areas also caused prices to spike, with a 25-kilogram bag of flour jumping from $20 in Kahn Younis to $34 after intensified airstrikes. The same month, Human Rights Watch criticized the defunding of UNRWA, which they termed "the main humanitarian channel into Gaza", in the face of "mounting risks of famine and a binding order by the World Court in a case about genocide".

On 13 February 2024, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich blocked a US-funded flour shipment to Gaza and stated he had done so "in coordination with the prime minister". White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan confirmed Israel was blocking flour from entering Gaza. On 14 February, the Financial Times reported that an aid shipment that could have fed more than 1 million people for a month had been blocked at the Israeli port of Ashdod, with the Israeli government stating the food would not be released. The UN stated aid deliveries had halved in February from the month before. On 28 February, USAID chief Samantha Power stated more aid needed to enter Gaza, calling the situation "a matter of life and death". Following a US announcement that it was beginning airdrops of aid and building a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated, "The time when countries use air drops and these maritime piers is usually, if not always, in situations when you want to deliver humanitarian aid into enemy territory".

As of March 2024, there are ongoing efforts to address the crisis include attempts to negotiate a humanitarian aid cease-fire and allow for the provision of aid in addition to a hostage release deal. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated in late-March: "Some families receive a can of food every other day for the whole family". In late-March, residents reported that animal feed was running out in parts of Gaza. In late-April 2024, the World Food Programme (WFP) stated half of Gaza’s population is starving. At the end of May 2024, the United Nations stated that humanitarian aid deliveries had dropped 67 percent since the start of Israel's Rafah offensive at the beginning of the month. The WFP stated it was unable to feed most civilians in Rafah and described conditions as "apocalyptic".

Israeli blocking of aid

Israeli attacks

On 25 January 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported an Israeli attack on aid seekers had killed 20 and wounded 150. Israel bombed a truck loaded with food head toward northern Gaza on 5 February. On 6 February, Israeli forces reportedly open fired on people waiting for food aid trucks in Gaza City. UNOCHA stated it was the fifth report of Israeli firing upon people waiting for humanitarian aid. On 18 February, multiple instances of Israeli sniper attacks on civilians seeking humanitarian assistance were reported. On 20 February, at least one Palestinian civilian was killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid. People seeking aid were attacked by Israeli forces on multiple occasions. UNOCHA stated on 27 February that "aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need". On 28 February, medical sources in Gaza City reported three people were killed while waiting for aid on al-Rashid Street.

On 29 February, more than 100 people seeking humanitarian died in the Flour massacre, following Israeli gunfire at the Al Nabulsi roundabout west of Gaza City. The United Nations called for an investigation on 1 March into the killing of humanitarian aid seekers, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".

On 2 March, three people in Beit Hanoun were killed while picking herbs for food. On 3 March, at least nine people were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid in an Israeli airstrike in Deir el-Balah. Later on the same day, dozens of civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on aid seekers at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City. The Ministry of Health called it a "horrific massacre". On 4 March, another attack was reported at the Kuwaiti roundabout, after thousands of people waited all day for humanitarian aid, Israeli soldiers opened fire on them as soon as the trucks arrived. Al Jazeera stated the attacks on aid seekers had become "a near-daily occurrence". On 6 March, eight people were wounded after Israel fired live rounds at people seeking humanitarian aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 7 March, five people were killed while waiting for aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 8 March, several people seeking humanitarian aid were reportedly killed by Israeli open fire at the Kuwait Roundabout. By 12 March, Israel had killed an estimated 400 humanitarian aid seekers in Gaza. Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid seekers was described as the "new normal" for Palestinians in northern Gaza.

On 13 March, at least nine aid seekers were shot and wounded by Israeli troops at the Kuwaiti roundabout. On 14 March 2024, Israeli troops fired on Palestinians receiving aid at the Kuwaiti roundabout, killing 21 and injuring more than 150 others. In a statement on 15 March, the UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths stated that attacks on aid seekers "cannot be allowed to continue". The Norwegian Refugee Council stated the attacks "shouldn’t be happening". On 19 March, at least 23 people were killed when Israeli fighter jets targeted a group of aid coordinators at the Kuwaiti roundabout.

On 1 April 2024, an Israeli drone fired three consecutive missiles at three cars belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK), killing seven aid workers who had been distributing food in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been pushed close to famine by Israel's siege and blockade during the Israel-Hamas war.

Effect on children

On 14 January, Philippe Lazzarini stated, "Whenever you go to a school, the kids are looking at your eyes begging for a sip of water or a loaf of bread." On 16 January, officials reported newborn babies with undernourished mothers were dying within days, and children weakened by starvation were dying from hypothermia. On 18 January, the deputy executive director of UNICEF took a tour of the Gaza Strip, stating he had witnessed "some of the most horrific conditions I have ever seen" and that "thousands of children are malnourished and sick." On 10 February 2024, a UNICEF spokesperson said Gaza had the world's highest rate of child malnutrition. On 17 February, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported an instance of an 8-year-old girl who had died from starvation and dehydration.

On 19 February, UNICEF found that nearly 16 percent of children in northern Gaza under two-years-old were "acutely malnourished", with 3 percent suffering from severe wasting. One mother in northern Gaza described the situation on 21 February, stating, "My little one wakes up at night screaming from hunger". On 26 February, two children from Gaza City stated they ate once every two days, and were then eating animal feed. Action Aid, citing the head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, stated on 25 February that a "significant number" of children in northern Gaza had already died from starvation. At least six children died of malnutrition on 28 February. Project Hope, an aid organization in Deir el-Balah, stated 11 percent of the under-five-year-olds they had seen were experiencing malnutrition.

A doctor at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated they had seen a steep rise in pediatric malnutrition cases. On 28 February, a representative from Save the Children stated that due to Israeli bombardment and restrictions on aid, children were starving with trucks full of food waiting to enter into Gaza, describing this as "the killing of children in slow motion". A two-year-old died from food poisoning after eating bread made from animal feed. Four more children died of starvation on 29 February, bringing the week's total to at least ten. Melanie Ward, the director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated, "This is the fastest decline in a population's nutrition status ever recorded. That means children are being starved at the fastest rate the world has ever seen." On 3 March, health officials stated at least fifteen children at Kamal Adwan Hospital had died of malnutrition and dehydration in the preceding few days. CNN reported that the true number could be higher, with a UNICEF representative stating there were likely more starving children "fighting for their lives" in other parts of Gaza.

Yazan al-Kafarneh, a 10-year-old boy who died from starvation, was described as "the face" of the famine. The father of a 5-year-old who died from starvation stated, "He did not suffer from any disease. My child died before my eyes because of hunger". In June 2024, children died of malnutrition as Israel's Rafah offensive caused sharp reductions in humanitarian aid. The Gaza Media Office stated on 3 June 2024 that 3,500 children under the age of five were at risk of death from starvation. UNICEF placed the number at almost 3,000 children.

Infants and newborns

A two-month-old baby died in Gaza City on 24 February from malnutrition. A pediatrician working in Gaza stated, "Nursing mothers are unable to lactate as their health worsens". The head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated the hospital was struggling to find milk to feed infant patients, stating, "Even newborns are emaciated". The UN Population Fund stated doctors "no longer see normal-sized babies" but instead more stillborns. In March 2024, a doctor at the Emirati Hospital stated 16 premature babies had died from malnutrition-related diseases in the past five weeks. The United Nations reported that one-third of children under two were "acutely malnourished" by 16 March. Catherine M. Russell, the head of UNICEF, stated, "I have been in wards where babies are suffering from malnutrition, the whole ward is absolutely quiet because the babies don’t even have the energy to cry." WHO stated, "What doctors and medical staff are telling us is more and more they are seeing the effects of starvation; they’re seeing newborn babies simply dying because they (are) too low birth weight". On 15 March, UNICEF reported that acute malnutrition amongst under-two-year-olds had doubled in one month.

In late-March 2024, doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated babies were dying from hunger and dehydration.

Impact on the elderly

In March 2024, the elderly were reportedly dying at an "alarmingly high rate", with the Euro-Med Monitor stating it was receiving daily reports of the elderly dying of starvation. The group stated, "The majority of these cases do not reach hospital... after dying at home, the elderly are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves".

Casualties

The number of people who have died due to issues related to starvation is believed to be an undercount. In May 2024, the head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at Save the Children, stated the official count was "probably the tip of the iceberg", due to the collapse of Gaza's healthcare system. In June 2024, Cindy McCain, the head of the World Food Programme, stated children and adults were dying from starvation after being reduced to the "size of a skeleton". The same month, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network stated, "Regardless of whether or not the famine (IPC phase 5) thresholds have been definitively reached or exceeded, people are dying of hunger-related causes across Gaza".

Accusations of war crimes

I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.

On 18 December 2023, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of "using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip". On 16 January 2024, UN experts accused Israel of "destroying Gaza’s food system and using food as a weapon against the Palestinian people". The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, stated Israel was using hunger as a weapon against Palestinians. On 23 January, Alex De Waal stated Israel was committing a war crime through enforced starvation, stating, "An entire population being reduced to this stage is really unprecedented. We haven’t seen it in Ethiopia, in Sudan and Yemen – pretty much anywhere else in the world."

On 13 February 2024, US Senator Chris Van Hollen, stated, "Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals." A representative from the Palestinian non-profit organization Juhoud for Community and Rural Development stated, "The denial of access to food, water, and other necessities consists of a serious violation of international law". Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in an interview with El Pais that "We are already in the midst of a catastrophe. The United Nations has had to suspend humanitarian aid: Israel is using famine as a weapon of war and that is contrary to international law." On 3 March, Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard stated that week's death of ten children from malnutrition was unlawful and the result of an Israeli "engineered famine".

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israel of violating international law by "using starvation as a weapon of war". Physicians for Human Rights–Israel stated, "According to the International Criminal Court, starvation is considered a war crime. Israel must immediately... stop limiting life-saving humanitarian aid. This is a moral stain that will stay with us for generations." Belgian foreign minister Alexander De Croo stated Israel was engaging in "tactics of starvation". The global humanitarian director of Plan International stated, "Israeli restrictions on aid... must cease immediately. The starvation of the civilian population is illegal under international humanitarian law." Jeremy Laurence, the UN Human Rights Office spokesman, stated Israel's conduct may constitute "starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime".

Ayman Safadi, the Foreign Minister of Jordan, stated, "Israel is weaponizing starvation. This is another horrific war crime." The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Ireland Micheál Martin stated, "The use of starvation as a weapon of war is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law." Caroline Gennez, Belgium’s minister of development cooperation, stated Israel's use of hunger as weapon of war was a "flagrant violation of international law". A June 2024 investigation by the The Independent found both current and former officials believed the United States was complicit in the creation of the Gaza Strip famine.

Reactions

Israel's actions, according to its government, aim to neutralize Hamas as a security threat, including preventing military resources from being smuggled under the guise of humanitarian aid. Efforts to address the crisis include attempts to negotiate cease-fires and allow for the provision of aid, though challenges persist due to the continuation of hostilities and the difficulty in delivering aid amid the fighting.

January 2024

On 7 January, secretary-general of the UN António Guterres stated "widespread famine looms" in Gaza. The UN special rapporteur for health Tlaleng Mofokeng responded to Guterres, stating Gaza was experiencing "deliberate starvation not famine". Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on 12 January, Martin Griffiths stated colleagues who had made it into northern Gaza in recent days had described "scenes of utter horror: Corpses left lying in the road. People with evident signs of starvation stopping trucks in search of anything they can get to survive."

On 11 January, the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated there was no hunger in Gaza. On 16 January, Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on food, stated, "What we’re witnessing in Gaza is an entire civilian population made to go hungry... this is a result of Israeli bombardment, this is a result of the denial of humanitarian relief. We’ve never seen anything so brutal happen so quickly". Following a visit to the Rafah border crossing, US Senator Chris Van Hollen described the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza as an "unnecessarily cumbersome process".

The heads of the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization issued a joint statement stating significantly more humanitarian aid was needed in Gaza. Mohammad Mustafa, the chief economist of the Palestine Investment Fund, stated, "Maybe more people will be killed or die from hunger and famine than the war itself." After major Western donors announced they were suspending funding of UNRWA, the agency stated "over 2 million people [are] depending on it for their sheer survival" as "hunger stalks everyone."

February 2024

On 14 February, a joint statement by fourteen major human rights organizations, including Action Against Hunger, ActionAid, Danish Refugee Council, Handicap International, INTERSOS, Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Plan International, Project HOPE, Save the Children, Solidarités International, and War Child UK stated, "The risk of famine is increasing each day in Gaza due to the continuation of hostilities, and the continued blockade of the Strip."

The American Friends Service Committee stated, "Everyone is hungry in Gaza today. That is just enormous and truly catastrophic, and we’ve never seen anything like that before." Alex de Waal, a British academic, stated, "There’s no doubt that certain senior members of the Israel government and certain groups within Israeli society have the intent of starving Gaza." He further stated, "Nothing compares to Gaza over the last 75 years."

On 18 February, the heads of eight major humanitarian organizations — including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Mercy Corps, Refugees International, Oxfam America, CARE USA, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, and Catholic Relief Services — wrote a joint op-ed, stating, "If the situation continues we will see one of the biggest disasters we have faced as humanitarians... this crisis will soon reach a tipping point, where emergency food aid won't be enough. Averting mass death becomes harder as starvation gains momentum." The Gaza Media Office stated on 20 February, "We hold the US administration and the international community additionally to Israel fully responsible for this famine."

On 21 February, World Food Programme chief Cindy McCain stated, "A famine doesn’t have to happen. But if things don’t change, it will". Tor Wennesland stated on 22 February that more than 2 million people were facing extreme food insecurity. On 23 February, a UNOCHA official stated, "Famine is looming". The head of the Red Cross stated on 26 February: "80% of the population already faces emergency or catastrophic acute food insecurity conditions". Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN humanitarian affairs chief, stated that if nothing was done to change the status quo then "widespread famine in Gaza is almost inevitable". On 27 February, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, said there was "no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses and orchards in Gaza – other than to deny people access to food." Fakhri stated what's happening in Gaza is genocide.

On 29 February, the humanitarian policy director of Oxfam America stated the organization was opposed to proposed US airdrops, stating, "Oxfam does not support US airdrops to Gaza, which would mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and risk of famine in Gaza".

The UN World Food Programme warned of a real prospect of famine by May 2024, for half a million people.

March 2024

A man in Rafah spoke to Al Jazeera, stating, "From the moment we wake up until the moment we sleep, we are battling to survive. We are fighting to get our hands on some water, to get hold of a loaf of bread for our children. We are exhausted, mentally and physically. This is unbearable." Save the Children released a statement saying children in Gaza were "forced to forage for scraps of food left by rats and eating leaves out of desperation. The risk of famine will increase so long as the government of Israel continues to impede the entry of aid." UNICEF responded to news of children dying from starvation, stating, "Now, the child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved" On 5 March, UNOCHA stated that the first deaths of children from starvation in northern Gaza were "a warning like no other". A World Food Programme director stated, "The is nowhere else in the world where so many people face imminent famine".

In The Guardian, global health expert Devi Sridhar wrote there was no precedent to the Gaza famine. Sridhar quoted an unnamed colleague, who stated there had never been another conflict in history "that used bombing, snipers, starvation all at once with such intensity". On 6 March, a UN official stated, "Ninety percent of the population today in Gaza is facing a high level of acute food insecurity". A medical student working as a doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital documented the first death by starvation in Gaza; he stated, "Do not talk to us again about human rights, I do not know where the world has reached in its brutality and cruelty." Gaza's civil defense criticized humanitarian aid drops, stating, "The method of using the dropping of aid via international relief planes has not limited the famine crisis". The EU's humanitarian aid chief Janez Lenarcic stated, "We already have a very strong and credible indication that there are pockets of famine already in the Gaza Strip."

A displaced Palestinian speaking to Al Jazeera English in late-March stated, "The situation is so bad that no one can imagine it". Martin Griffiths stated the world should "hang its head in shame" for failing to prevent the famine. In a report, Islamic Relief stated, "Palestinians are not just starving; they are being starved". The International Rescue Committee, stated, "Children are starving due to an entirely man-made and preventable crisis. There is no excuse". Melanie Ward, the CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated, "If Israel would only let food aid in, we could stop the starvation immediately." Oxfam stated the famine was the result of Israel's bombing of Gaza and "using starvation as a weapon of war".

Citing the IPC, the US Secretary of State acknowledged on 19 March: "100 percent of the population in Gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. That’s the first time an entire population has been so classified". Naledi Pandor, South Africa's Foreign Minister, stated that as famine set in, humanity needed to look at itself "in horror and dismay". Caroline Gennez, the Belgian Minister of Development, stated Israel wouldn't defeat Hamas by using hunger as a weapon to starve civilians. The World Bank stated the "situation in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels". Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, stated under questioning: "We need urgent action now to avoid a famine". On 18 March 2024, the UN secretary-general António Guterres stated the imminent famine was an "entirely man-made disaster".

After the passage of UNSC Resolution 2728, the UN director of Human Rights Watch stated Israel needed to begin "facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, ending its starvation of Gaza’s population, and halting unlawful attacks". A provisional measure issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in South Africa v. Israel found "Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine... but that famine is setting in". David J. Simon, the Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, wrote, "Failing to act raises the possibility the [ICJ] will make a finding of genocide". Amnesty International responded to the ICJ's provisional measures, stating, "This new ruling must serve as a critical reminder to all states of their clear duty to prevent genocide".

April 2024

A director of Save the Children stated, "Starvation must never be used as a weapon of war – 27 children have already been killed by starvation and disease. If the world fails to act now countless more children will be added to that number." On 16 April, Andrea De Domenico, the head of UNOCHA in Palestine, stated, "We're dealing with this dance where we do one step forward, two steps backward, or two steps forward, one step backward, which leaves us basically always at the same point". On 23 April, David M. Satterfield, the U.S. special envoy for humanitarian issues, stated that the risk of famine throughout Gaza, and especially in the north, was "very high". Gian Caro Cirri, a World Food Programme director, stated, "There is reasonable evidence that all three famine thresholds -- food insecurity, malnutrition and mortality -- will be passed in the next six weeks." Carl Skau, the World Food Program deputy executive director, stated, "We are still heading toward famine. We haven't seen the paradigm shift that is needed to avert a famine".

May 2024

On 4 May, Cindy McCain, the head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), stated in an interview with NBC News that Northern Gaza was in a “full-blown famine”, and that it was “moving its way south”. She said: “It’s horror. It’s so hard to look at and it’s so hard to hear. What we are asking for and what we continually ask for is a ceasefire and the ability to have unfettered access, to get in safe through the various ports and gate crossings.” Human Rights Watch stated, "Despite children dying from starvation and famine in Gaza, the Israeli authorities are still blocking aid critical for the survival of Gaza’s population in defiance of the World Court". The American Friends Service Committee stated, "There are 600,000 children on the edge of death."

June 2024

Stacy Gilbert, a U.S. State Department official who resigned in protest of the Biden's Administration's policies, stated it was "absolutely unanimous that Israel is blocking humanitarian assistance, which is why there’s famine". The Middle East and North Africa director of Oxfam stated, "When hunger claims many more lives, nobody will be able to deny the horrifying impact of Israel’s deliberate, illegal and cruel obstruction of aid".

See also

• Gaza humanitarian crisis (2023–present)
• International aid to Palestinians
• Famine in Yemen (2016–present)
• Famine in northern Ethiopia (2020–present)
• Water supply and sanitation in the State of Palestine
• UNRWA
• World Central Kitchen
• Humanitarian aid during the Israel–Hamas war

Notes

References

Works cited

External links

• "‘They scream in hunger’ - How Israel is starving Gaza" per Al Jazeera English (26 March 2024)