Israel Is Using Starvation as a Weapon of War
AntiWar.com
(December 21, 2023) — One in four Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip — over 570,000 people — are starving due to the Israeli siege, according to a report using data from the UN and other aid agencies that was released Thursday.
The report, published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), said the Israeli onslaught in Gaza has “caused catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity across the Gaza Strip.”
The IPC has a five-phase scale for malnutrition, and the report estimates the entire population of Gaza is facing Phase 3 or higher. Phase 3 is defined as: “Households either have food consumption gaps that are reflected by high or above-usual acute malnutrition; or are marginally able to meet minimum food needs but only by depleting essential livelihood assets or through crisis-coping strategies.”
One in four households in Gaza is in Phase 5, which means catastrophic famine-like conditions. Phase 5 is defined as: “Households have an extreme lack of food and/or other basic needs even after full employment of coping strategies. Starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident. For famine classification, the area needs to have extreme critical levels of acute malnutrition and mortality.”
The IPC report came after Human Rights Watch said Israel was committing a war crime by using starvation as a weapon of war against Gaza’s civilian population. HRW said Israeli forces were “deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival.”
When Israel’s onslaught first began after the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” on the already blockaded enclave and said Israel was fighting “human animals” in Gaza, which is home to over 1 million children.
Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the US-backed Israeli slaughter so far, including over 8,000 children. As the war continues, many more could die from starvation and disease caused by the siege.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
More than Half-a-Million Palestinians
Starving Due to Israeli Blockade
Starvation and an Action Call for the ICRC
Critical New Reports, Urgent Action Needed
Mazin Qumsiyeh / Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
(December 22, 2023) — Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) global partnership 21 December report on “the entire population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.2 million people) is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse).
This is the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area or country…. at least one in four households (more than half a million people) is facing catastrophic conditions – IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe). These are characterized by households experiencing an extreme lack of food, starvation and exhaustion of coping capacities.” https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1156749
Oxfam reaction to the IPC food security figures for Gaza: “While over 90 percent of people in Gaza cannot find their next meal, some UN Security Council member states are still toying with words rather than voting for a ceasefire.”
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/oxfam-reaction-ipc-food-security-figures-gaza
World Food Program: 2.2 million people in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity in Gaza and 576,600 people face catastrophic hunger and starvation in Gaza; 5.3 milion population of the state of Palestine (under Israeli occupation, 1967 areas only) https://www.wfp.org/countries/palestine
World Health Organization: Hunger is ravaging Gaza, and this is expected to increase illness across the Strip, most acutely among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and older people.
https://www.who.int/news/item/21-12-2023-lethal-combination-of-hunger-and-disease-to-lead-to-more-deaths-in-gaza
WHO resolution (not supported by Israel and hte US!)
https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EBSS7/EBSS7_R1-en.pdf
Both Christians and Muslims in Gaza will likely not resort to cannibalism to survive starvation as happened in Ukraine during the 1930s famine (eating dead corpses from the bombing and there are hundreds of those every day).
A more serious problem in Gaza is also lack of potable water so nearly half a million have developed diseases. Combined with lack of medical services (only 9 hospitals of 36 remain open to offer only minimal first aid services since doctors were abducted and medicines and tools to offer important services are gone) and in any case there is no electricity to operate equipment like drip machines, baby monitors, or kidney dialysis machines).
See also this report from the Palestine Red Crescent Society covering 7 October – 20 December.
Reliefweb on the Cut-off of Water
I fasted yesterday Thursday and hundreds of thousands pledged to fast every Thursday (sunrise to sunset) to remind us of this unprecedented starvation of Gaza used as an instrument of occupation (I do not say war because war involves two armies, here you have an army fighting a small guerrilla resistance force in an illegally occupied and besieged territory).
ACTION: Demand ICRC fulfill its mission: Under pressure from the Zionist lobby, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and especially its US branch speak and talk of needing access to some 120 “hostages” (prisoners) held by Resistance Forces (number shrinking as Israel carpet bombs the Gaza Strip). Meanwhile the ICRC is not fulfilling its mission. It is not pressing Israel to allow ICRC staff to visit the 11,500 Palestinian prisoners/”hostages” held by Israel.
Here in the West Bank, over 4000 were abducted in the last two months including friends of mine who practice non-violent resistance such as Munther Amira and Anas Abu Srour from the Refugee camp youth groups. No lawyers are allowed to visit most of them (Israel uses the internationally banned “administrative detention” allowed by Israeli apartheid laws for use on thousands).
ICRC is not protecting medical personnel (hundreds were killed or injured, over 200 abducted). Most of those are being tortured, mistreated, denied food etc (6 already died in the last month from torture). In one case admitted to by Israel, 19 Israeli soldiers beat a prisoner to death.
Please write to ICRC and to your government to demand they insist on stopping the random collection and torture of civilians, follow international law, and protect hospitals and medical facilities and restore those bombed by Israel. See this earlier Amnesty International Report (things got much worse since then) https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/israel-opt-horrifying-cases-of-torture-and-degrading-treatment-of-palestinian-detainees-amid-spike-in-arbitrary-arrests
Human Rights Watch
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/29/why-does-israel-have-so-many-palestinians-detention-and-available-swap
https://www.972mag.com/palestinians-abused-israeli-prisons-torture/
PLEASE Write to the ICRC:
https://www.icrc.org/en/contact
And as you gather around your family meals…do remember that Christians and Muslims in Gaza (and increasingly here in the West Bank) are going through unimaginable horror (massacres and genocide – see ongaza.org). Pray and act for us and for humanity because they are thinking of expanding this starvation and blockade to other countries (primarily Lebanon and Yemen and soon others).
Your and our collective actions especially in western countries shortens this nightmare and thus saves lives.
Stay human and keep Palestine alive.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Professor, Founder, and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
