Famine & Starvation in Gaza
➡️ FAMINE & STARVATION AS WEAPONS OF WAR IN GAZA – Tools of Genocide & Ethnic Cleansing
Under the grips of famine and starvation for months, the situation in Gaza is dire. In August 2025, the IPC and United Nations officially declared the hunger crisis entirely manmade.
The Israeli government is using starvation as a weapon of war in its genocidal campaign against the people of Palestine. The number of people in Gaza now experiencing food insecurity at an emergency level is 2.2 million.
"470,000 people are on the brink of mass starvation" - Red Cross
The total blockade of Gaza and the systematic destruction of UNRWA have paved the way for the weaponisation of aid. Shady U.S.-Israeli private aid distributor the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has forcibly displaced thousands to the south as citizens are forced to choose between starvation and risking their lives for food.
As per international criminal law, starvation in warfare is classified as a war crime.
Jump straight to our resources on ➡️ Famine & Starvation in Gaza
Explore our comprehensive guides on -
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The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
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Israeli Campaign to Destroy UNRWA
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Ethnic Cleansing and Medicide in Gaza
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Israeli Atrocities and War Crimes
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Israeli Genocide in Gaza and Western Complicity
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Blockade of the Gaza Strip
Israel has restricted the movement of goods in and out of Gaza since the 1990s. The blocks intensified in 2007 after Hamas seized administrative control of Gaza and the West Bank in a deadly military coup.
The original purpose of the blockade was to stifle the import of weapons to Gaza and put a significant economic strain on Hamas. The effect, however, has been devastating for civilians as it leaves them without essential goods, limits their freedom, and has caused great economic hardship.
In 2025, after the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, a total blockade was placed on Gaza. This collective punishment meant that access to food, water, fuel, medicine, and electricity was completely cut off. Even with a slight easing of the blockade, aid remains severely restricted.
A brief ceasefire brought temporary respite, but then in March 2025, all supplies were blocked entirely after a deal to release hostages collapsed. Gaza is now enduring the longest blockade to date.
With the country unable to farm, fish, or leave, every calorie Palestinians eat needs to be brought into the country. Israel has calculated rations below the minimum threshold, intending to cripple the population.
Between March and June 2025, Israel allowed just 56,000 tonnes of food to enter - the equivalent of less than a quarter of Gaza's minimum needs for that period. As of September 2025, 28 countries have called on Israel to end the inhumane blockade.
Multiple aid flotillas have been organised to bring in essential humanitarian supplies. Their progress has been stalled by drone attacks, interception by Israeli authorities, and seizure of their cargo. The most recent attempt, the Global Sumud, was launched in September with activists from more than 40 countries on board. It has already encountered setbacks as the main ship was struck while docked in Tunisia.
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) - Politicised Aid
In May 2025, the United States and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was established to replace the former United Nations aid group UNRWA and other well-established aid organisations.
The GHF is Israel's answer to international pressure on allowing aid to enter the Palestinian territories. The organisation is highly politicised, but according to Israel, it is necessary to stop aid falling into the hands of Hamas.
Aid groups and the United Nations have criticised the initiative for violating basic humanitarian principles, breaching international laws, and labelling it a moral failure. Israel is exploiting humanitarian relief to push its own military and political agendas, including the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Israeli forces and foreign contractors have engaged in open, indiscriminate fire on aid seekers at distribution sites. The death toll at GHF sites is now 1,400, and the number of injured surmounts 4,000.
Previous aid facilities were spread out at more than 400 sites. Now there are only four, three of which are located in military evacuation areas in Rafah. Thousands of starving people have to walk tens of miles in scorching heat to reach these dangerous sites. There are thousands more who are unable to make the walk at all.
There are no distribution sites in the north, forcing the large-scale displacement of the Palestinian population south. The depopulated north has been left to starve while the south becomes dangerously crowded. Thousands gather at heavily guarded and surveilled GHF sites. Eye scanners and ID checks determine who is permitted to receive aid.
Scenes are chaotic as desperate, starving families push and shove to collect their measly rations. Those who are successful are unable to use the majority of the supplied goods, as water and electricity are almost completely non-existent.
Fishing & Agriculture in Gaza Decimated
After almost 2 years of unrelenting onslaught from Israel, Gaza has been turned into a barren wasteland. In Gaza City, the IDF have destroyed hospitals, water and sanitation systems, and more than 90% of housing. Civilians have nowhere to turn.
Not only has Israel stripped Gaza of its essential infrastructure, supplies, humanitarian aid, and closed the country off to the outside world, but it has also destroyed Gaza's ability to feed itself.
Satellite images reveal that 98.5% of Gaza's agricultural land is now either damaged beyond use or completely inaccessible due to infrastructural damage or designated 'no-go' zones. Abundant crops of dates, olives, strawberries, oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, and cucumbers have been systematically razed. In this blatant act of ecocide, every bit of greenery in Gaza has gone.
Agricultural infrastructure is now obsolete as mills, wells, solar panels, markets, irrigation systems, processing sites, and storage facilities have been wiped out. Even if the conflict were to end today, the soil contamination and risk of unexploded ordnance are such that it would take more than 14 years to recover.
Once a main source of income and protein in Gaza, the fishing industry has been attacked and restricted to the point of collapse. Fishing now operates at just 7% of its capacity.
The Israeli military has destroyed Gaza's only seaport, its three landing sites, and 270 out of 300 fishers' stations. As of April 2024, 70% of fishing assets and infrastructure in Gaza had been damaged. The FAO estimates that 94% of trawlers have been destroyed.
As of July 2025, to block the approaching aid flotilla's, Israel implemented strict security restrictions which prohibit all entry to the sea, declaring it a combat zone. Boats and fishers which enter are subject to lethal force. Those who are not attacked are detained, interrogated, and have their boats confiscated.
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Denying a population access to food and water amounts to a war crime. Gaza is starving. Two out of three famine thresholds have been reached, plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition. The third criterion, deaths from malnutrition, must not be reached.
The media, governments, politicians, and citizens must not stand by and allow this genocide to continue. Censorship, media bias, and the suppression of pro-Palestine groups are examples of Western complicity in the barbaric situation, which shows no end.
We must demand a weapons embargo now, sanction Israel, and consider supporting boycott campaigns to end the famine.
"It is a famine on all of our watch. Everyone owns this. The Gaza Famine is the world's famine. It is a famine that asks 'but what did you do?' A famine that will and must haunt us all." - Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Author: Rachael Mellor, 16.09.25 licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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