The Amman Center for Human Rights Studies strongly condemns the ongoing humanitarian crisis which affects Gaza. The ongoing conflict in Gaza has led to 127 Palestinian fatalities from hunger with most victims being children, while severe malnutrition rates keep increasing rapidly throughout the Strip.
The fatalities occurred due to a planned set of circumstances. They are the result of a systematic policy of blockade. Food, water, fuel, and medicine are deliberately restricted. Hospitals have collapsed. Water pumps no longer function. Humanitarian aid is blocked at crossings, while warehouses filled with supplies remain inaccessible.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) which began operations in May 2025 to coordinate aid has failed to meet the basic humanitarian standards. More than 1,054 Palestinians lost their lives during aid distribution operations according to official reports while they tried to obtain food for their household members. The United Nations together with many humanitarian groups have condemned the GHF because it operates without neutrality and shows poor performance while allowing civilian deaths to happen.
International law explicitly forbids using starvation as a method of warfare. The Genocide Convention requires states to stop such crimes from happening while also taking steps to prevent them. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued binding provisional measures requiring Israel to allow humanitarian access “at scale.” These legal obligations have not been met.
States which offer Israel support through military, financial or diplomatic means bear legal and moral responsibility for the suffering experienced by Gaza according to ACHRS. When states remain silent and take no action against mass starvation they become complicit in its occurrence.
The ACHRS demands:
- All areas of Gaza require immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access.
- The GHF must dissolve while aid coordination should return to neutral UN agencies including UNRWA and UN-led operations.
- The ICJ’s provisional measures require complete implementation.
- A neutral international body must conduct investigations regarding the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
- Legal action must be taken against all individuals and states who participate in these acts.
Starvation deaths are happening right now. This crisis exposes the fragility of international justice. Aid delivery delays and the lack of accountability functions as separate instruments of death.
