By systematically blocking food, medicine, and humanitarian aid, Israel has turned hunger into a tool of collective punisment.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has waged a brutal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza, deploying not only relentless airstrikes and ground invasions but also a more insidious weapon: starvation.

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By systematically blocking food, medicine, and humanitarian aid, Israel has turned hunger into a tool of collective punishment, pushing Gaza toward famine while almost all the world watches in complicit silence.

This is not merely a humanitarian crisis, it is a calculated act of genocide, designed to break the spirit of the Palestinian people and force their expulsion from what remains of their land.

The Blockade as a Weapon of War

For over 18 months, Israel has imposed a near-total siege on Gaza, deliberately restricting the flow of aid to create conditions of mass starvation.

According to UN reports, only 1% of the required aid has been allowed into the Strip, with Israeli forces routinely turning away trucks carrying food, fuel, and medical supplies.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned that Gaza faces “catastrophic famine”, with children dying daily from malnutrition and dehydration.

The blockade is not a wartime necessity; it is a political strategy. Internal Israeli documents, leaked to the press, reveal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has meticulously calculated the minimum caloric intake needed to keep Palestinians alive while ensuring suffering is maximized.

This echoes Israel’s 2006 policy of putting Gazans “on a diet”, a chilling admission that food control is a deliberate tactic of subjugation.

In May 2025, when global outrage over images of skeletal children forced Israel to allow a trickle of aid, Netanyahu cynically admitted that the decision was made only to placate international allies, not out of concern for Palestinian lives.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have attacked aid convoys, killed humanitarian workers, and even burned food supplies. Clear violations of international law that underscore the genocidal intent behind these policies.

Manufactured Chaos: Aid as a Propaganda Tool

Rather than opening crossings for neutral agencies like the UN, Israel has instead set up controlled distribution centers, run by private contractors with ties to Zionist lobbyists.

These centers, such as the U.S.-backed facility in Rafah, have become sites of violence and humiliation, where starving Palestinians are forced to scramble for scraps under the watch of armed guards.

In one horrific incident in May 2025, Israeli-affiliated security forces opened fire on thousands of civilians—including children—who rushed a warehouse in desperation.

This is not aid, it is psychological warfare, by creating artificial scarcity and then staging chaotic, degrading distributions, Israel reinforces the narrative that Palestinians are “violent” and “ungrateful,” justifying further repression.

Meanwhile, hospitals report infants dying from hunger, pregnant women suffering miscarriages due to malnutrition, and elderly patients perishing from lack of medicine.

The Palestinian government has called this a “silent genocide”, one carried out not just with bombs but with bureaucratic cruelty.

International Complicity and the Failure of Justice

The United States and European powers have enabled this genocide, providing Israel with diplomatic cover and billions in military aid while feigning concern over Gaza’s suffering.

Despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that Israel must prevent acts of genocide, Western nations continue to veto ceasefire resolutions and shield Israel from accountability.

Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations report that over 500 aid trucks per day are needed to stave off famine, yet only a handful are permitted.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has documented cases of parents feeding their children animal feed and drinking polluted water to survive.

The Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) warns that by September 2025, half a million Gazans will face famine conditions, with the rest in acute hunger.

This is not collateral damage, it is ethnic cleansing by starvation. Israel’s goal is clear: to make Gaza uninhabitable, forcing Palestinians to flee or die.

Yet history shows that the Palestinian people, having endured more than 70, will not surrender. The question is whether the world will finally act to stop this genocide, or remain complicit in Israel’s war crimes.

A Crime Against Humanity

Israel’s blockade of Gaza is not a security measure, it is a weapon of mass destruction. By systematically depriving 2.3 million people of food, water, and medicine, Israel is committing genocide under the guise of war. The international community’s inaction has made it an accomplice.

The Palestinian people have resisted decades of displacement, massacres, and apartheid. Now, they face starvation as policy.

But as long as their struggle continues, so too must global solidarity, not just in words, but in sanctions, arms embargoes, and prosecutions for those responsible.

The time to act is now, before Gaza’s famine becomes the final chapter in Israel’s campaign of annihilation. 

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