Israel engineering Gaza famine, UN confirms genocide nearing second anniversary
Experts say Tel Aviv’s systematic blockade and obstruction of aid created “policy of starvation” that has killed hundreds, including children
GENEVA, Switzerland (MNTV) — Israel deliberately pushed Gaza into famine through a long-standing policy of starvation and aid obstruction, according to UN investigators and human rights organizations, who have said the country is committing genocide in the besieged enclave.
The UN officially declared famine in Gaza in August 2025, confirming earlier warnings by humanitarian agencies that the collapse of food systems had reached catastrophic levels.
A month later, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel’s actions met the legal threshold for genocide under international law.
Ramy Abdu, chair of the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said Israel’s policy was “not a byproduct of war but a deliberate strategy” to starve Palestinians. “Food and water have been turned into weapons of war — tools of genocide carried out in plain sight,” he said.
A deliberate policy of deprivation
Israel’s control over Gaza’s access to food, fuel, and water began long before the current conflict.
Following the 2006 blockade, authorities restricted imports and, at times, reportedly calculated the calories permitted per Palestinian. By 2023, four in five Gazans were dependent on aid, unemployment had reached 67 percent, and malnutrition was widespread.
“This engineered fragility left Gaza unable to absorb any disruption,” Abdu said. “When crossings were closed and farmland destroyed, the population had no way to survive independently.”
The situation deteriorated further after October 9, 2023, when Israel imposed a “complete siege,” cutting off food, water, electricity, and fuel.
The move instantly halted imports and froze humanitarian convoys at the border. With bakeries shuttered, trucks immobilized, and water systems collapsing, hunger quickly turned to starvation.
Israeli forces also targeted agricultural areas and imposed fishing bans, effectively eliminating local sources of food. “The occupation transformed the vulnerability it had created over years into a weapon of slow annihilation,” Abdu added.
Displacement worsens the crisis
Relentless airstrikes and repeated evacuation orders forced nearly two million Palestinians to flee their homes, overcrowding shelters and cutting families off from basic supplies. “People fled with nothing—food, health, and housing all collapsed together,” said Abdu.
Children and pregnant women were among the hardest hit, facing acute malnutrition, dehydration, and disease.
By early 2024, Israel escalated pressure on Gaza’s main relief body, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), with donor suspensions, strikes on warehouses, and restrictions on aid convoys.
The closure of the Rafah crossing in May 2024 sealed Gaza’s last route to the outside world. A year later, Israel and the United States launched the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial body accused by aid agencies of militarizing relief and creating “death zones.”
According to the UN, more than 1,760 Palestinians—including nearly 1,000 near GHF sites—have been killed while trying to reach food.
UN confirms famine and genocide
On August 22, 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declared famine in parts of Gaza after all three thresholds—extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition, and starvation-related deaths—were breached.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported at least 460 famine-related deaths, including over 150 children.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry later concluded that Israel had committed four of the five genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention: mass killings, inflicting serious harm, creating conditions intended to destroy Palestinians, and preventing births.
“The State of Israel bears responsibility for the failure to prevent and punish genocide,” the commission stated in its September 16 report, urging Tel Aviv to lift the siege and allow unimpeded humanitarian access.
Abdu said the findings carry significant legal weight but have not yet led to decisive action. “Labeling Israel’s actions as genocide should trigger obligations under the Genocide Convention, including prevention and punishment,” he noted. “But in practice, little has been done.”
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