’Israel’s’ Starvation War on Gaza: The Crime the World is Watching

By Mohamad Hammoud

A Deliberate Siege, A Complicit West

Women carry their children through dust and ruin, fleeing the fire only to face famine. In Gaza, even survival has become a crime punishable by starvation. This is not a natural disaster—it is a calculated siege. "Israel," armed and emboldened by the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, has turned hunger into a weapon of war. These Western powers do not merely look away—they equip, finance, and defend the machinery of starvation. As infants die from dehydration and mothers starve beside them, the world watches in silence—some paralyzed by fear, others complicit by choice, cloaked in the language of defense and diplomacy.

The ICJ Steps In: Starvation as a Weapon of War

The International Court of Justice [ICJ] case centers on the accusation that "Israel" is weaponizing food, water, and medical aid, using deprivation as a tool of war. Supporting this claim, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA], told the court that "Israel," as the occupying power, is legally obligated to facilitate humanitarian access. Instead, it expelled UNRWA from Gaza, blocked aid convoys, and refused even minimal relief efforts. Additionally, Reuters reported that UNRWA’s warehouses are empty, its Gaza bakeries are shut down, and 90% of the population lacks access to safe drinking water.

These facts were echoed in the courtroom by legal and diplomatic representatives who underscored both the scale of the crisis and Israel’s obligations under international law. Palestinian ambassador Ammar Hijazi told the court, “‘Israel’ is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives.” UN legal counsel Elinor Hammarskjold reinforced that international law mandates the occupying power to permit aid delivery during conflict.

Gaza Under Siege: The Anatomy of a Manufactured Famine

The blockade on Gaza, tightened since March 2025, has left 2.3 million Palestinians in desperate conditions. The World Food Programme confirmed via The Washington Post that it suspended all food distribution due to depleted supplies. Experts assert that this deliberate restriction of aid, coupled with the bombing of infrastructure, amounts to collective punishment—a violation of the Geneva Conventions and a potential war crime under the Rome Statute.

The US Role in the Crisis: A Troubling Pattern of Inaction and Complicity

The US role in the crisis has been particularly troubling. While the Trump administration remained an outspoken supporter of "Israel," the Biden administration, though expressing concern, limited its response to symbolic diplomatic gestures that lacked meaningful enforcement. In October 2024, The Washington Post revealed that former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had sent a letter to “Israeli” leaders warning that US military assistance could be suspended unless conditions in Gaza improved. The letter demanded unimpeded access to food, water, and medicine, and held "Israel" partially responsible for the humanitarian blockade. Yet despite these warnings, the Biden administration continued to provide billions in military aid, effectively enabling the very actions it publicly condemned.

Germany and the UK: Military Support Behind the Rhetoric

Germany and the United Kingdom are also deeply implicated. Reuters reported that Germany pledged continued military exports to "Israel," including weapons components and tank parts worth over €160 million in 2024. The UK supplies crucial parts for F-35 fighter jets used in Gaza airstrikes. Al Jazeera noted that Britain suspended only a small number of export licenses while continuing to support Israeli operations militarily and politically.

Echoes of Fallujah and Yemen: A Pattern of Collective Punishment

This use of aid as a coercive tool is not unique to "Israel." The US used similar tactics in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, cutting off aid and shelling hospitals, leading to mass civilian suffering. Human Rights Watch and the UN criticized these actions as collective punishment. In Yemen, US support for the Saudi blockade also contributed to famine and disease, drawing condemnation from Amnesty International and Oxfam.

A Global System of Impunity

A common thread running through these developments is impunity. When powerful states or their allies violate international humanitarian law, they are rarely held accountable. "Israel’s" refusal to participate in the ICJ hearings exemplifies this sense of immunity. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar openly dismissed the proceedings as a “political circus,” offering no evidence to refute the charges. Meanwhile, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza persists. In December 2023, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2720, which called for unimpeded humanitarian access and the appointment of a special coordinator to oversee aid delivery to Gaza. Yet the resolution was never enforced—undermined by the United States' unwavering diplomatic shield for "Israel," which effectively rendered international demands toothless.

The Human Cost and the Call for Accountability

This is not merely a policy dispute—it is a daily humanitarian catastrophe. Testimonies emerging from Gaza are harrowing: children dying of dehydration, families reduced to scavenging for food, and doctors performing surgeries without electricity, medicine, or anesthesia. These are not accidental byproducts of war; they are the foreseeable consequences of a deliberate strategy.

"Israel" is not simply waging war against Hamas—it is subjecting an entire civilian population to collective punishment in an apparent effort to drive them from their land. The United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, by continuing to arm and shield "Israel" diplomatically, share responsibility for these atrocities. If international law is to retain any legitimacy, both "Israel" and its enablers must be held accountable. That accountability must include arms embargoes, targeted sanctions, and a fundamental reassessment of the practice of unconditional military support.

As the ICJ proceedings unfold, the world must not look away. History will remember who raised their voices, who chose silence, and who profited from Gaza’s suffering.