The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime, the leading international human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday. In a statement, HRW stressed that Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival.
“For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza's population of food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch.
“World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza’s population.”
Since atrocities by Palestinian armed groups were committed in Israel on October 7, high-ranking Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Energy Minister Israel Katz have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel.
HRW said these statements reflect a policy being carried out by Israeli forces. Other Israeli officials have publicly stated that humanitarian aid to Gaza would be conditioned either on the release of hostages or the destruction of the armed group Hamas.
International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, prohibits the starvation of civilians and the denial of humanitarian aid as methods of warfare. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) provides that intentionally starving civilians by “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies” is a war crime.
According to Human Rights Watch, in addition, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, also a war crime. As the occupying power in Gaza under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has the duty to ensure that the civilian population gets food and medical supplies.
The Fourth Geneva Convention, which addresses the protection of civilians in times of war, specifically prohibits collective penalties and reprisals against civilians. According to the convention, the civilian population and individual civilians must be treated with humanity, and any form of collective punishment is considered a violation of these principles.
HRW said the Israeli government should immediately cease using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. It should abide by the prohibition on attacks on objects necessary for the survival of the civilian population and lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip. The government should restore water and electricity access, and allow desperately needed food, medical aid, and fuel into Gaza, including via its crossing at Kerem Shalom.
“The Israeli government is compounding its collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and the blocking of humanitarian aid by its cruel use of starvation as a weapon of war,” Shakir said.
“The deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza calls for an urgent and effective response from the international community.”
The human rights organization called on the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and other countries to suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel as long as its forces continue to commit widespread and serious abuses amounting to war crimes against civilians with impunity.
Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are living in catastrophic conditions, and Gaza is currently the deadliest place for civilians in the world. Supply of aid is severely restricted by Israel, and not even a fraction of what is needed can be delivered. The only hope for civilian lives to be protected and for adequate humanitarian assistance to be provided would be for the fighting to stop.
Humanitarian organizations are unable to operate effectively and safely under the current conditions as indiscriminate attacks and disproportionate attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continue, killing hundreds of civilians every day. More than 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip are desperate to find food, water, shelter and safety amid relentless bombardments and ground operations.
Israel's air and ground military operations in Gaza have killed more than 19,400 Palestinians, including at least 7,700 children and more than 5,100 women. More than 52,000 people have been injured and thousands more have been reported missing and may be still trapped dead or alive under the rubble. Among those killed are at least 136 UN staff, 300 health workers and 89 journalists.
Across the Gaza Strip, more than 1.9 million people - 85 percent of Gaza’s population - are believed to be displaced by the fighting and Israeli evacuation orders. About 1.4 million of them are sheltering in 155 severely overcrowded UN installations. Nearly two in three residences are now damaged or destroyed.
On October 7, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, including fighters from the militant Hamas group, launched thousands of rockets toward Israel and breached through a perimeter fence of Gaza at multiple locations. Members of armed groups entered into Israeli towns, communities, and military facilities near the Gaza Strip, killing and capturing Israeli forces and civilians.
More than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, most of them civilians, were reportedly killed and more than 5,400 injured, most of them on October 7. Some 240 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, were held hostage in Gaza. More than 100 of the Israeli hostages have since been released, most of them during a weeklong truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Following heavy bombardments by Israeli Forces, from the air, sea and land, the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip drastically deteriorated. The merciless attacks by the IDF and the blockade imposed on Gaza by the Israeli government has led to a humanitarian catastrophe for the people of the tiny enclave.
Humanitarian organizations, human rights organizations, and legal experts have repeatedly said that the killing of thousands of innocent children and women, the siege on an entire civilian population, and the trapping of bombarded civilians behind closed borders in Gaza are crimes under international law. They demand accountability for the crimes committed against civilians in Gaza, from political and military leaders as well as those who provided arms and political or other support.
Further information
Full text: Israel: Starvation Used as Weapon of War in Gaza, HRW, press release, published December 18, 2023
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza