Where Hunger is the Weapon: Part 1 - The Siege of Gaza
How starvation became Israel’s pressure tactic and why thousands of Palestinian children are now on the brink of death.
In this three-part series, we examine how starvation is being used as a deliberate tool of war, from the blockaded neighborhoods of Gaza to the scorched farms of Sudan. When food becomes a weapon, feeding people becomes resistance.
The Weaponization of Hunger
In Gaza, hunger isn’t just a byproduct of war; it’s used as a weapon.
Since early 2024, Israel has enforced a near-total blockade, choking off food, water, fuel, and medicine. Aid convoys are delayed, denied, or attacked. Crops are destroyed, bakeries bombed, and borders sealed shut. This siege has pushed over two million Palestinians into a humanitarian catastrophe, and children are the ones paying the highest price.
According to the United Nations, 93% of Gaza’s population faces acute food insecurity. Over 244,000 people live in conditions classified as “catastrophic,” a technical term for starvation. Nearly 71,000 children under five are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year. Of those, 14,100 are expected to be severely malnourished, meaning they face imminent death without medical intervention.
A Crime With Intent
Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using starvation as a method of warfare, calling it a war crime. The organization documented multiple cases in which Israeli forces obstructed humanitarian deliveries, bombed farmland and food warehouses, and restricted life-saving supplies.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said plainly:
“Starvation is spreading. This is the weaponization of humanitarian aid.”
Israeli officials have not hidden this logic. Defense Minister Israel Katz described withholding aid as a “main pressure lever” in the war against Hamas. Civilians, children included, are collateral in a policy designed to break resistance through deprivation.
The Human Cost
The result is visible in the streets and shelters of Gaza: children with sunken eyes, mothers skipping meals for days, and hospitals unable to treat the malnourished because they lack electricity and formula.
Even when aid trucks are allowed through, logistical bottlenecks and security blockages prevent most supplies from reaching the north of Gaza, where the famine is worst.
Doctors are overwhelmed. Parents grieve. Starvation is another front in the war.
What Needs to Happen
To reverse this catastrophe, the international community must act now and decisively.
Israel must ensure full and sustained humanitarian access into Gaza without delay or obstruction. Aid must be protected and not politicized, bombed, or used as leverage.
The International Criminal Court and the United Nations must treat the use of starvation not as a side effect of war, but as a prosecutable war crime. World governments must stop treating this crisis as a geopolitical talking point. Babies are dying from hunger in real time.
How You Can Help
If this matters to you, and it should, support the people who are risking everything to fight back with compassion:
World Central Kitchen – Serves hot meals in Gaza and other active war zones.
UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency) – Provides food, medical aid, and shelter for Palestinians.
Doctors Without Borders – Treats malnourished children and the wounded under fire.
Save the Children – Protects and feeds children in crisis zones.
International Committee of the Red Cross – Operates on all sides to deliver aid under international law.
In Part 2, we’ll look at how World Central Kitchen brings hope to Gaza and Ukraine, one hot meal at a time, even in the shadow of drones and bombs.
Sources:
Thousands of Gaza’s children face imminent death under Israeli siege: UN Al Jazeera
Israel: Starvation Used as Weapon of War in Gaza, Evidence Indicates Civilians Deliberately Denied Access to Food, Water HRW
Israel denying food to Gaza is 'weapon of war', UN Palestinian refugee agency head tells BBC BBC
Gaza aid yet to reach civilians, UN says, as pressure grows on Israel BBC