Washington, DC., 17 July 2025 —
In Gaza, a place long defined by hardship, the humanitarian crisis has plunged to unimaginable depths. As famine looms for over two million Palestinians in Gaza, life has been reduced to a grim choice: starve slowly in the ruins of their homes or risk death venturing to aid centers under threat of airstrikes, sniper fire, or chaotic crowds.
Humanitarian groups, international organizations, and independent observers are sounding the alarm about the rapidly deteriorating food security in Gaza. What many are now calling a man-made famine has prompted increasing scrutiny of Israeli military and political decisions, with critics accusing the Israeli government of using starvation as a weapon of war – a grave violation under international humanitarian law.
Starvation as a Weapon
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), as of mid-2025, large areas of Gaza are experiencing famine-like conditions, with more than half the population classified as being in IPC Phase 5 – the most severe level of food insecurity. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that “complete societal collapse” in Gaza is imminent without immediate, large-scale aid access.
Families now survive on stale bread, powdered milk, or nothing at all. Malnutrition has become widespread, especially among children under five. Health officials report a growing number of starvation-related deaths, many of which go unrecorded because of the chaos. Evidence gathered by satellite imagery, eyewitness accounts, and UN assessments shows widespread destruction of farmland, bakeries, water infrastructure, and food storage sites, often from airstrikes. Gaza’s agricultural lands have been flattened or made inaccessible due to bombing and military incursions, and local food production is virtually nonexistent. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war, and that is a war crime.
“People are already dying of hunger,” said a recent statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. “This is not a natural disaster. This is the consequence of human decisions.”
Aid Centers: A Risky Lifeline
For many Gazans, the only hope lies in humanitarian aid centers, typically set up by the UN, the ICRC (Red Crescent), or local NGOs. But reaching them is a journey fraught with danger. Roads are often closed or bombed. Armed drones circle overhead. People walking long distances with their children or pushing carts often do not return. Witnesses have said that going to aid centers is like walking into a death trap. There are reports of bodies on the street, people trampled in crowds, and frequently, the center is hit by bombardments. Civilians seeking aid have been injured or killed by Israeli forces, including sniper fire near designated aid distribution points or routes.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a project established by Israel and the US, operates four aid distribution centers in Gaza, located in areas under the control of the IDF. These sites have been the subject of controversy due to reports of chaos and violence surrounding the distribution process. Since the GHF began operating in May 2025, more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed trying to access aid at GHF locations.
Witnesses and health officials have specifically recounted shootings by Israeli soldiers at or near these sites. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has also reported a significant increase in patients with gunshot wounds following violence near GHF distribution centers.
The Blockade and Restriction of Aid
Central to the crisis are Israel’s restrictions on the entry of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid into Gaza. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, the Israeli government implemented a full siege of the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated early in the conflict: “No electricity, no food, no fuel.” That blockade has since been eased sporadically under international pressure, but humanitarian agencies report continued obstacles to delivering aid.
Aid convoys face a combination of Israeli inspections, long delays, and active hostilities that make distribution nearly impossible. Crossings that Rafah and Kerem Shalom have operated only intermittently. The destruction of infrastructure and Israeli restrictions on movement have left large swaths of northern Gaza virtually unreachable.
Human Toll
In the words of a Gaza doctor: “We are watching children die of hunger in front of our eyes. Not from a lack of will. Not from a lack of aid. But from barriers created by men.”
UNICEF reports that child wasting and malnutrition levels have reached catastrophic highs. Cases of kwashiorkor and marasmus – severe protein and calorie deficiencies – are appearing in clinics across Gaza, some of which now operate without electricity or medicine.
The paralyzing dilemma – stay and starve or go and possibly die – has become the central moral and physical conflict for Gaza’s people. Parents debate whether to send their teenage sons to retrieve food, knowing they may not return. Elders refuse to leave home, accepting hunger over a painful death in the streets. Children cry from hunger with no comprehension of the impossible choices their families face.
International agencies have called for sustained humanitarian ceasefires, protected aid routes, and the opening of more border crossings. But as political negotiations stall and military operations continue, the people of Gaza are left alone in their desperation.
A Moral Collapse
What is happening in Gaza is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a profound moral collapse. The world watches as civilians are stripped not only of food and shelter but of the right to live without impossible choices. The question is not only of food and shelter but of the right to live without impossible choices: the right to life. The question now is no longer whether the crisis is urgent. The question is whether anyone with the power to act will do so before Gaza is emptied of hope entirely. It is a question of whether anyone with the power will act before Gaza is emptied of its people.
Photo credit: A mother cries for her 4-year-old daughter, who lost her life due to malnutrition and lack of treatment, due to the war in Gaza. Photo by Ashaf Amra – UNRWA – 14 August 2024. Licensed under CC BY SA 4.0
Author’s note: If you found this article important, please consider sharing it or supporting organizations providing aid to Gaza’s civilians. Their survival may depend on global action.
Lara Kajs is the founder and executive director of The Genocide Report, an NGO nonprofit organization in Washington, DC. She is the author of Assad’s Syria, and Stories from Yemen: A Diary from the Field, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and independent bookstores worldwide. Distributed by Ingram. Ms. Kajs frequently speaks about atrocity crimes, forced displacement, and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Follow and connect with Lara Kajs on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky.