Bethlehem/PNN/
The Palestinian NGOs Network warns that Israel’s systematic starvation policy in Gaza goes beyond depriving the population of food; it has catastrophic effects on the most vulnerable groups in society, foremost among them women and children. This policy also severely affects the mental and social well-being of civilians, spreading feelings of anxiety and helplessness within families, and causing the breakdown of community support networks under the daily struggle for survival.
As hunger worsens and food insecurity deepens, its direct impact on the social fabric becomes evident. The urgent need for basic sustenance has led to increased chaos and social disorder, including the looting of aid trucks, hunger-driven theft, and a profound loss of trust among individuals. This collapse of social cohesion is not a mere byproduct of war but a deliberate reflection of the starvation policy used as a weapon striking the community at its roots.
This was detailed in a fact sheet issued by the Palestinian NGOs Network titled “Starvation as a Weapon: Famine in Gaza Between International Law and Humanitarian Catastrophe”, which documented the blatant violation of fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law. Children in Gaza continue to sleep hungry, and mothers struggle in vain to save their children’s lives with scraps of food. In a world where famine is theoretically prohibited under international law, it is being implemented in Gaza today as a declared policy rather than a transient crisis. The siege is no longer merely a tool of pressure but has become a systematic means of collective starvation.
Starvation in Gaza has become a deliberate tool of slow killing, depriving over 2.2 million Palestinians—mostly women and children—of food and medicine due to the tight Israeli blockade imposed since March 2025. According to international reports, the entire population lives under a state of “food catastrophe,” with tens of thousands of children and women suffering from acute malnutrition alongside a deteriorating health infrastructure. International law criminalizes starvation as a weapon of war, with Israel violating Article 54 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions and Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Aid distribution mechanisms have turned into a political tool following the establishment of the so-called U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has been accompanied by serious violations, including deadly attacks on civilians during food distribution that resulted in dozens of deaths. The arming of unofficial groups has further dismantled internal security and spread chaos. These actions violate Article 59 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which obliges the occupying power to ensure the unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid.
Through this fact sheet, PNGO calls for immediate international intervention to lift the blockade and open crossings, hold accountable those responsible for the starvation policy, and establish independent international monitoring mechanisms. The international community must uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and take urgent action to save civilian lives, as Gaza has become a scene of slow genocide amid a glaring absence of global political will.
