Systematic Starvation in Gaza: A Catastrophe and a Global Concern

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates, Gaza has become a battleground where civilians, especially children, are suffering the most. July 2025 has been one of the deadliest months of the war, with Israel killing one person every 12 minutes. The United Nations reports that over 1,000 Palestinians have died attempting to access food, mainly when collecting aid from hubs. This humanitarian crisis is driven by a "minutely engineered, closely monitored, and precisely designed" system of starvation, according to Prof Alex de Waal, an expert on humanitarian crises.

Key Takeaways:

• Over 1,000 Palestinians have died in 2025 while trying to access food, with at least 10 individuals perishing from hunger and malnutrition on a single day.
• Gaza's health ministry has confirmed that starvation and malnutrition are causing irreversible damage to physical and mental health, not only for the current generation but potentially for future generations as well.
• Israel has blamed Hamas for looting aid, while the country armed the criminal gang accused of seizing aid.
• International condemnation is growing, with 28 countries issuing a joint statement attacking Israel for depriving Palestinians of "human dignity."
• The necessity of action from other states is emphasized, as the repercussions of not intervening could be felt globally in years to come.
• Prof Alex de Waal describes the system of starvation as "minutely engineered, closely monitored, and precisely designed."
• Aid groups have warned that the situation is spreading rapidly, with social breakdown making it too dangerous for both staff and recipients to distribute meager supplies.
• Parents are forced to make impossible choices between feeding their children, leading to desperation and acts that leave lasting scars.
• The genocide convention prohibits deliberately inflicting conditions that lead to physical destruction in whole or in part, which could be considered a similar act.
• Countries like UK and 27 other states have already issued a strong statement condemning Israel but it is not enough, concrete actions are needed.

Statistics:

• One person is killed by Israel every 12 minutes in Gaza, July 2025.
• Over 1,000 Palestinians have died trying to access food in 2025.
• At least 10 people died from hunger and malnutrition on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, according to Gaza's health ministry.
• Starvation and malnutrition can have life-long damage on physical and mental health of the current and future generations.
• Conditions of life in Gaza are calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in part.

Sources:

• Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters
• United Nations
• Prof Alex de Waal, expert on humanitarian crises
• The UK and 27 other countries' joint statement
• The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee's statement