The Weaponisation of Hunger: Gaza’s Engineered Famine

Bassam Abu Odeh, displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, symbolises the thousands of Palestinians experiencing severe food shortages amid UN warnings of an impending famine. Source: UN News

As a result of the ongoing situation, the UN warns of “worst-case scenario of famine”

Over 60,000 men and 450 aid workers have been killed, and the UNRWA have been banned

Genocidal Humanitarianism:- the act of providing just enough food to prevent immediate mass death, while maintaining extreme hunger that destroys communities from within, like what is taking place on the ground in Gaza

On February 27, top UN leaders told the UN Security Council that massive starvation is about to happen in Gaza. If this starvation spreads, the number of people in Gaza who die from hunger or sickness could be higher than the already shocking number of civilian deaths from the Israel-Hamas war. There is still time to stop this disaster.

This crisis is much more than people suffering alone. As the UN says the “worst-case scenario of famine” is happening, experts warn that Israel’s planned use of hunger is a weapon meant to destroy Palestinian society itself. Israeli leaders have openly said what they want to do from the start of the conflict. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced “a complete siege on Gaza: no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel,” and said this was okay by calling Palestinians “human animals.” General Ghassan Alian promised “total blockade” for “human beasts,” while Prime Minister Netanyahu promised to block all help to people in need. These clear statements of illegal plans were mostly ignored or played down by Western media, which avoided calling Israel’s actions crimes instead of self-defence.

Willful Blindness of Western Allies

Western allies knew exactly what was happening but failed to act. UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron documented Israel’s systematic aid-blocking tactics, yet took no action. Two US government departments concluded Israel was deliberately obstructing aid—legally requiring weapons suspension—but the Biden administration overruled this finding.

The United States has provided Israel $243.9 billion since World War II and vetoed 53 UN Security Council resolutions critical of Israeli actions. Despite overwhelming evidence and International Criminal Court arrest warrants, no meaningful consequences have followed.

The Mechanics of Engineered Starvation: The systematic nature of this crisis becomes clear through Israel’s comprehensive assault on Gaza’s survival infrastructure:

Israel has killed over 60,000 men, and 450 aid workers—the largest slaughter in history—and banned UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine) from the occupied territories. Military forces deliberately targeted police escorting aid convoys. Nearly all agricultural land is now unusable, with 70% of cropland damaged, livestock dead, and Gaza’s port destroyed. Palestinians attempting to fish face execution. Public health officials recorded 43 starvation deaths in just three days this week, adding to 68 previous deaths. Flour costs 30 times the normal price, and even humanitarian workers are wasting away before colleagues’ eyes.

After imposing a total siege in March, Israel replaced effective UN aid systems with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s militarised distribution points—what Palestinians call “death traps.” Over 1,000 civilians have died attempting to access aid from these sites, which are deliberately designed to coax starved populations southward for potential confinement and deportation.

In 58 days of operation, the GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) provided food sufficient for less than two weeks for Gaza’s entire 2.1 million population, even if distributed equally.

The Sociology of Starvation

Starvation expert, Alex de Waal, warns that hunger’s societal trauma—the shame, lost dignity, violated taboos, and broken social bonds—often proves more devastating than individual biological suffering. This “sociology of starvation” was outlined by genocide scholar Raphael Lemkin, who described how systematic hunger can “dismantle a society”.

The strategy creates what experts term “genocidal humanitarianism”—providing just enough calories to prevent immediate mass death while maintaining extreme hunger that destroys communities from within. Starvation destroys communities by turning people against each other in their desperation for food and forcing them to do shameful, humiliating, or violent things to survive. Even if they recover physically, the trauma of having to choose between children, turn away relatives begging for food, or sell their bodies for sustenance stays with them for life.

Historical Context: Decades of Dispossession

The current crisis stems from decades of displacement beginning in 1948, when Israel gained control of 78% of British Mandate Palestine. On May 15, 1948, the British Mandate ended, and the State of Israel came into effect with no defined borders. The armies of Egypt, Transjordan (Jordan), Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq joined Palestinians to resist Zionist plans for the conquest of Palestine, but were defeated. The 1949 armistice agreements gave Israel control over 78% of the territory of British Mandate Palestine.

In 1967, Israel invaded the West Bank and Gaza, an area with an Arab population of about 1.5 million, resulting in the dispossession of another half million Palestinians. Human Rights Watch has documented systematic apartheid and persecution through land confiscation, building prohibitions, and severe movement restrictions.

The International Court of Justice has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “plausible genocide”. International riminal law recognises both apartheid and persecution as crimes against humanity, with evidence indicating Israel has committed both through systematic domination and discriminatory policies.

Even if aid suddenly flooded Gaza, many Palestinians would die from irreversible hunger damage. Years of malnutrition have compromised immune systems, making populations vulnerable to disease outbreaks. Three severely malnourished patients died this week, including a girl who could have survived with basic intravenous potassium, normally routine medication now impossible to obtain.

As one paediatrician noted, children have suffered famine conditions for nearly two years: “It’s not just about being full; it’s about receiving the nutrients the body needs. And those are completely absent”.

Starvation forces the body to consume its own muscle and organs for energy, which can cause permanent injury, harm children’s futures by stunting the growth of their bodies and minds, and may even damage the health of survivors’ children.

Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza beginning March 2nd. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lifted it on May 19th, he claimed the government was acting to prevent a “starvation crisis” because some of the country’s staunchest allies told him they would not tolerate images of famine. In reality, the Israeli government simply shifted course to draw out the starvation crisis, letting in only minimal quantities of aid so that Gaza’s descent toward famine progressed more slowly.

As hopes for a ceasefire rise, the threat from extreme hunger remains particularly acute because Israel has continued to deploy food controls as a weapon against civilians during previous pauses in conventional fighting, and could do so again.

Beyond Statehood: The Fight for Human Dignity

Palestinian resistance endures because it represents the universal fight for human dignity and collective freedom. The Oslo Accords’ failure in the 2010s demonstrated that focusing solely on statehood and institutional recognition was insufficient. Regional stability depends on addressing root causes through peaceful conflict resolution, recognising that both Israeli and Palestinian civilians deserve security and peace. However, as long as starvation continues as a weapon of war, prospects for lasting resolution remain distant.

The question confronting the international community is stark: How long will Western powers facilitate mass starvation while their “ally” repeatedly boasts about the crime?

Starvation is not only killing Palestinians in Gaza one by one, but also destroying Palestinian society and inflicting permanent damage on bodies and minds. Until concrete action replaces empty rhetoric, Gaza’s children will continue to waste away while the world debates semantics. Their suffering demands more than words—it demands justice, accountability, and an immediate end to the weaponisation of hunger against an entire population.

The time for complicity has ended. The time for action is now!
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