For two months now, Israel has been blocking the entry of food and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, deliberately starving over two million people, including more than one million children. On 16 April, Defense Minister Katz declared Israel would continue to block the entry of food and aid into Gaza, effectively admitting it is using starvation as a method of warfare. On 25 April, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that its food warehouses in Gaza were now empty.

This deadly siege is enabled by the international community in an abdication of its responsibility to protect human lives. The Israeli government and other decision-makers continue to deliberately and openly order the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity that exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. They must be held accountable for their actions and face justice.

On 18 March, Israel renewed its campaign of killing and destruction in Gaza. Since then, it has claimed the lives of over 2,200 Palestinians in indiscriminate bombings, shelling and gunfire. Since the start of the war, Israel has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including over 1,500 medical, defense and aid personnel. The number of deaths caused by hunger, lack of drinking water and the spread of disease is unknown but expected to rise as Israel’s lethal campaign continues.

B’Tselem field researchers collected testimonies from Gaza residents describing life under starvation:

Anwar Hamad, a 38-year-old mother of six from Jabalya Refugee Camp, recounted:

“[O]n the day I gave birth to my daughter ‘Alaa, I ate falafel, and for lunch I ate some halva in the hope it would help me breastfeed her. I was constantly hungry. I didn’t eat any vegetables, fruit or meat, and was afraid I wouldn’t make enough milk […] The hunger we’re experiencing now is the worst we have faced since the war began. It’s destroying us. We all wander around weak and thin. I go to sleep fantasizing that in the morning I’ll hear the war has ended. We are exhausted. There’s no point in elaborating — no words can express what we are going through.

How long will this go on? I am just one of two million people trapped in the Gaza Strip. We are facing bombings and killings, hunger and thirst. I long to bring home a potato or an eggplant! We have reached a point where we dream day and night of vegetables and meat. They have turned us into people who dream only of food.” For the full testimony

‘Abdallah Shaqurah, a 40-year-old widower and father of three from Khan Yunis, said:

“My children beg me to get them meat or eggs, and I have to tell them there is none and I can’t. What crime have my children committed? Why must they starve?

The hunger imposed on us now is crushing. There is nothing available except a little flour, canned goods, rice, grains, peas, and beans. The only fresh vegetables for sale are tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, but they are too expensive for us. There is no meat, fish, or eggs at all. Even the food we can buy, we can’t afford to cook. There is no cooking gas and we can only cook over a fire, but firewood is too expensive for us, so we rely solely on prepared meals distributed by soup kitchens and some canned food. Without the soup kitchens, we would have died of hunger by now. We stand in long lines for food and come home with a plate of stew. Sometimes my children stand in line; sometimes I do. A kilo of flour costs 50 shekels ( USD 14) and when I can, I buy and bake bread, but it runs out quickly. We have been truly starving for 53 days now.” For the full testimony

Hala Sha’sha’ah, a 40-year-old mother of five from Gaza City spoke about life before the ceasefire:

Sometimes we got food, and sometimes we didn’t. It was especially hard to find vegetables and meat. There was also a flour shortage, and sometimes there was none at all. My youngest, ‘Iz a-Din, cried a lot and kept saying, ‘I’m hungry.’ It broke my heart to hear it, and I cried over his situation — but that was the situation for everyone. I explained to him that everyone was hungry and there was nothing I could do.”

Sha’sha’ah also described the current situation with Israel blocking the entry of supplies: “Our lives have been reduced to survival — every day is a struggle to figure out how we’ll get food and water, what we’ll burn for a cooking fire, how we’ll get cash. Everything is so difficult. Now, 100 shekels is worth what 10 shekels used to be before the war. You can’t buy almost anything here now with 100 shekels.

If the crossings stay closed and the war continues, we will die — either from the bombings or from hunger. There is heavy hunger here now. ‘Iz a-Din suggested we buy horse meat, and I told him, ‘You can’t eat that.’ But we’ve reached the point where people are eating whatever kind of meat they can find, no matter its source.

My children go to bed hungry, with empty stomachs. Layan and Banan talk about how they miss snacks and chocolate — things that have disappeared and no longer exist here, at least not for us.” For the full testimony

B’Tselem