JERUSALEM, August 18 — As the world watches Gaza with growing alarm, a new report by Amnesty International has delivered a deeply unsettling accusation: that Israel is deliberately using hunger as a weapon of war.
For nearly two years, Gaza has been caught in the grips of unrelenting conflict. Families have been displaced, homes reduced to rubble, and now — according to Amnesty — food itself has become a casualty. The rights group says Israel is pursuing a “deliberate policy” of starvation in the besieged enclave, systematically stripping Palestinians of their ability to survive.
Drawing from recent interviews with 19 displaced Palestinians and medical workers treating malnourished children in Gaza hospitals, Amnesty’s report paints a stark picture. It accuses Israel of “carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the occupied Gaza Strip” and “systematically destroying the health, well-being, and social fabric of Palestinian life.”
The report goes further, claiming that the suffering is not collateral damage, but “an intended outcome” of calculated plans and policies — part of what Amnesty describes as “Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
Israel has consistently denied such accusations, rejecting claims that it is using starvation as a tactic. Its military and foreign ministry did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the latest Amnesty report. Meanwhile, COGAT — the Israeli defense ministry body that manages civil affairs in Palestinian territories — dismissed recent warnings of widespread malnutrition in Gaza as inaccurate and politically motivated.
But on the ground, aid groups and UN officials are warning of an impending famine. Children are going without food. Parents are skipping meals so their little ones can eat. Doctors in under-equipped hospitals are treating toddlers for conditions like wasting — the most severe form of malnutrition.
This is not just about numbers or policy. It’s about people — real lives, real families — caught in a crisis where even the basic right to eat has become uncertain.
As the international community continues to debate, those in Gaza are left to suffer — waiting for compassion, accountability, and above all, urgent action.
