Tehran – The starvation crisis in Gaza, driven primarily by Israeli actions, continues to decline as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration makes a symbolic gesture by allowing only a limited trickle of humanitarian assistance to the besieged Palestinian territory.
About 150 Palestinians, most of them children, have died of starvation in October 2023 since the launch of Israel’s fierce military campaign, according to Gaza’s health ministry on Monday. Of these deaths, 14 have occurred within the past 24 hours. The government’s media office issued a disastrous warning, revealing that more than 40,000 infants under the age of one risking the death of their baby’s formula slowly due to a serious shortage.
“We urgently request immediate and unconditional openings at all intersections and prompt entry in baby formula and humanitarian assistance,” the office said in a statement.
Israel’s near-assisted blockade has elicited criticism from international observers for deliberately weaponizing hunger for months. Israel has announced it will increase global pressure and implement a short humanitarian moratorium over the weekend, with limited air droplets and truck delivery. However, these measures have been widely dismissed as inadequate.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian governor, described Israeli aid efforts as “a decline in the ocean,” warning that massive hunger is no longer an imminent threat. That’s the reality of the present day. Similarly, Sam Rose, acting director of Unrwa Affairs in Gaza, accused Israel of being a “manufactured starvation,” suggesting that the crisis has been intentionally cultivated over several months.
The impact is devastating. Since the start of the war, nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, and countless others have been injured, evacuated and starved.
International legal and human rights groups are stepping up their scrutiny. Israel is currently facing genocide accusations at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On Monday, two of Israel’s own major human rights groups, B’tselem and the Human Rights Physician (PhR), joined in the global condemnation. In the joint report, they said Israel targets civilians “just for their identity as Palestinians,” and described the consequences as irreparable harm to Palestinian society.
Yuli Novak, director of B’tselem, said, “Genocide is not just a legal term. It is a social and political phenomenon and is happening now.” Guy Sharev, head of human rights physicians, added that the destruction of the healthcare infrastructure of Gaza in Israel, is entitled to be a massacre under Article 2(c) of the Genocide Convention.
Importantly, the report also holds responsibility for Israel’s Western allies, claiming that they are not merely bystanders, but are active enablers of this humanitarian disaster.
What is unfolding in Gaza is neither a natural disaster nor a disappointing by-product of the war. It is a systematically designed crisis, rooted in policy of collective punishment and maintained by indifference from many in the international community.
The use of starvation as a way of war is a serious violation of international law. But in Gaza, it has become a reality of everyday life. The dying person, family cleaned for food under the shadow of the drone, and the hospital became crippled beyond repairs.
The world should not turn its back. By Israel in Gaza, legal experts, humanitarian agencies, and even Israeli organizations could constitute genocide, assert actions taken or deliberately ignored by Israel today. Tel Aviv is not the only responsibility. It extends to all governments and institutions that continue to supply arms, protect war crimes from accountability, or treat Palestinian lives as collateral.
Until meaningful pressures are applied and unconditional humanitarian access is restored, Gaza children continue to die from hunger, not just bombs.