UN prevented declaring Gaza Famine to defend Israeli atrocities

Gaza is already experiencing famine, but it has not been officially declared since the data is not available for the United Nations to make such a determination, says a famine expert.

In an interview with the Press TV website, Alex de Waal – a British anthropologist and executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the USA –  stressed that the war crime of starvation is prohibited under international law, referring to the ongoing siege and starvation in the Gaza Strip.

He said the UN lacks data on the famine in the besieged Palestinian territory because Israel is not allowing aid agencies access to the ground to collect the necessary information.

Nearly 130 people, the majority of them children, have reportedly died from deliberate starvation in recent weeks as a result of the Israeli regime’s weaponization of humanitarian aid.

The flow of aid into the coastal territory was completely blocked in March under the orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who used it as a cunning tactic to pressure Hamas into making useless concessions in negotiations regarding the ceasefire and release of captives.

This siege and the deaths from starvation come amid an ongoing genocidal war that has claimed nearly 60,000 lives since October 2023, the majority of them women and children.

De Waal, a leading expert on famine and humanitarian crises, stated that international law prohibits the war crime of starvation and added that UN Security Council Resolution 2417 of 2018 is specifically designed to address situations in which armed conflict risk causing widespread food insecurity and famine.

That was a unanimous resolution voted for by the United States. The International Criminal Court has published evidence that the war crime of starvation has been committed and that senior government officials are responsible, he told the Press TV website.

The International Court of Justice in its provisional measures in March last year ordered Israel to provide unhindered relief in full coordination with the United Nations. That is an obligation in law that Israel is required to fulfill.

Early on Sunday, the Israeli military announced it would open humanitarian corridors to allow aid convoys into the territory following mounting international pressure.

In a statement, the occupation army declared a tactical pause in military activity in three areas – Al Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City – from 10:00 to 20:00 local time each day.

De Waal said what Israel is doing is too little and too late, adding that the regime must fulfill all aspects of its humanitarian obligations, which include either providing or enabling third parties to provide food, water, healthcare, sanitation, shelter, clothing, protection for civilians and dignity for human beings.

The humanitarian crisis has reached a point at which these kinds of comprehensive measures are essential, the famine expert noted.

On whether he sees any modern precedent for a humanitarian catastrophe of this scale, the British anthropologist said there have been famines and humanitarian crises in modern history, but the situation in Gaza is unique because of obstacles placed in the way of the UN.

There have been many famines and humanitarian crises in modern history in which the international community has either done nothing or done too little.

There have been cases in which Western countries have looked away while allowing governments to commit genocidal acts.

Cases would include Guatemala, Iraq’s campaign against the Kurds in the 1980’s, and Indonesia’s campaign in East Timor in the 1970’s, he noted.

What makes the case of Israel’s conduct in Gaza unique is that the United Nations has the resources, the capacity, and the plan to enable it to run a major relief operation. And it has been prevented from doing so without action at the highest international level.

A genocide expert has denounced the Israeli regime’s Western allies for their all-out efforts at shielding Tel Aviv from accountability, despite the latter’s deliberate and systematic push to make Gaza uninhabitable.

Professor Omer Bartov made the remarks in a detailed interview with the European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) that was published on Saturday.

Bartov, Dean’s Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, argued that the regime’s actions in the coastal sliver since October 2023 demonstrated a clear intent to destroy a particular group, in whole or in part, as defined under the UN Genocide Convention.

Making life impossible has become a central strategy—not an accidental consequence—of Israeli policy.

PressTV / ABC Flash Point News 2025.