The Gaza government has issued a warning that the population of the besieged territory is now facing the imminent threat of mass death, as widespread famine and the total collapse of health and public services take hold. Officials are urgently calling for the immediate opening of a humanitarian corridor to save the lives of more than 2.4 million Palestinians.
In a statement released by the Government Media Office, authorities placed full responsibility for what they described as a “documented act of genocide” on the Israeli government and its international backers. The statement condemned what it called “a shameful complicity” by the international co0mmunity, warning that any delay in humanitarian intervention constitutes a moral failure.
According to the statement, over 55 days of complete blockade have led to the rapid spread of famine. At least 52 Palestinians, including 50 children, have reportedly died from hunger and malnutrition, which the government described as evidence of “slow killing” carried out by Israeli forces against civilians.
More than 60,000 children are said to be suffering from acute malnutrition, with over one million children experiencing daily hunger. The situation has resulted in widespread physical deterioration, with many families now unable to secure even a single meal per day. The health sector, the statement added, has all but collapsed and can no longer meet the needs of the population.“
The delay in opening a safe humanitarian corridor amounts to direct participation in the ongoing crime against civilians,” the statement read, calling for the establishment of independent international committees to investigate what it described as a deliberate policy of starvation.
International human rights organisations have reiterated that the use of starvation as a weapon of war is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Article 54 of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions explicitly forbids the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, classifying it as a war crime.
Since 7 October 2023, Israeli forces, with open support from the United States, have been conducting a wide-scale military assault on Gaza. The offensive has so far resulted in more than 168,000 people killed or injured, the majority of them women and children. A further 11,000 individuals remain missing under the rubble or in destroyed areas.
