Starvation as a weapon: The ethics and impact of Gaza’s blockade
The situation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has never been as critical. By July 2025, the enclave was in the state of system-wide collapse. The increased blockade since March now virtually isolates Gaza to the basic resources required in its survival. More than 460,000 people are experiencing cataclysmic hunger and food security numbers are reflecting the global threshold of famine levels.
The World Health Organization stated that over 57 children died as a result of severe acute malnutrition in a span of four months. Hospitals are at the point of collapse, where major departments have been forced to shut down since there are no fuels, sterile materials, and working equipment. In 60 per cent of Gaza clinics there in fact seems to be a lack of even basic antibiotics.
The crisis has been described by the United Nations as “entirely man-made,” due to denial of humanitarian assistance even when it is needed, destruction of infrastructure, selective destruction of aid, and bureaucracy that hinders humanitarian work. The International Committee of the Red Cross predicts a probable humanitarian breakdown that would not be reversible once the blockade is not lifted.
Legal and ethical analysis of starvation tactics
International legal prohibitions
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Fourth Geneva Convention consider starvation as a war crime because starvation is a means of killing. Refrain of access to food, water and medical care as a way of debilitating a group of people or to coerce forces that are against you is forbidden.
Various UN Special Rapporteurs have stated that the blockade of Gaza constitutes a form of mass punishment which disproportionately affects the civilian population. Particularly, fuel, which is necessary to power generators in hospitals, water pumps and ambulances, has been mentioned as being in breach of international humanitarian law due to restrictions placed on its entry.
The state of Israel has used the excuse of security, but in light of the findings by legal experts, there is no such reason under international law that allows the targeting of civilians by deliberately starving them as a device. One of the former UN war crimes prosecutors commented that,
“The intent, not just the effect, defines whether this constitutes a war crime. When you restrict food with the aim of inflicting pressure, you cross a legal threshold.”
Ethical failures and collective punishment
Ethically, the blockade’s structure and implementation raise questions about the proportionality and morality of state responses to security threats. Gaza’s entire population is effectively penalized for the actions of militant factions, with access to food, healthcare, and safe shelter restricted en masse.
The principle of distinction—central to the ethics of war—requires belligerents to separate combatants from civilians. In Gaza, innocent suffering targets women, children, and the disabled without differentiation just like any fighter. More than 71,000 children under five years will suffer acute malnutrition by September in case there will be no blockade resolution.
Such mindless plight coupled with the refusal to create humanitarian corridors undermines allegations of morally just warfare. The deliberate use of blockade policies to weaken the civilian population’s resilience appears more as coercion than security strategy.
Devastating statistics on hunger and health
Acute malnutrition and health system collapse
Since the start of 2025, malnutrition cases in Gaza have skyrocketed. Over 19,000 children have been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition, many requiring hospitalization and intravenous feeding that Gaza’s clinics are no longer able to provide. Pediatricians report cases of children arriving unconscious due to hypoglycemia and fluid loss.
The food security situation is even more dire in the north, where aid deliveries are largely blocked. The IPC classifies these zones as Phase 5—“Catastrophe/Famine.” Without intervention, international agencies warn of a famine declaration within weeks.
Infrastructure damage and denied aid
More than half of Gaza’s hospitals are now fully non-functional. Medical workers operate without pay, medicine, or electricity. Since October 2023, the health sector has experienced over 300 direct attacks and 420 aid workers have been murdered in an attempt to bring supplies or take out the injured.
The availability of clean drinking water will be non-existent as a result of the lack of fuel and wasted pumping stations. Waterborne illnesses have surged. Children with leptospirosis and gastroenteritis cases are documented and most of them are already immunocompromised due to malnutrition.
Only a small proportion of both humanitarian shipments that have been pre-agreed with the Israeli authorities had been able to come to Gaza. Days are common and convoys are often reversed or plundered before they reach the desired distribution destination.
Voices calling for urgent international action
Testimonies from humanitarian experts
International health officials are sounding the alarm over the scale of the crisis. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in June:
“Gaza’s population is starving, ill, and under siege. We are witnessing the collapse of public health in real time.”
He urged immediate, unconditional humanitarian access.
UNICEF reports that polio has re-emerged in Gaza for the first time in 25 years, a direct result of vaccine disruptions caused by border closures. Schools have been converted into overcrowded shelters, and sanitation conditions are described as “pre-modern.”
Rescue workers cite unbearable psychological strain. With fuel running out, ambulances can no longer evacuate patients. In some cases, families are forced to carry critically ill relatives on foot for miles, only to find closed or bombed-out clinics.
Perspectives from medical professionals on the ground
Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian trauma physician who has worked extensively in Gaza, gave a harrowing account of the conditions in a recent interview with Al Jazeera. He said,
“This is no natural disaster. Starvation is being used as a weapon against an entire civilian population.”
He argued that international law and basic morality are being openly defied by the continuation of the blockade, especially given that lifesaving supplies sit unused just kilometers from those in need. Gilbert emphasized that doctors can no longer do their jobs, as there are no drugs, no electricity, and often no clean water.
The geopolitical dynamics shaping the blockade
Strategic justifications versus humanitarian costs
Israeli officials justify the blockade as necessary to prevent weapons smuggling and weaken Hamas’s military capability. However, critics argue that the blockade fails on both counts—Hamas remains operational, while civilians bear the brunt of suffering.
The closure of the Rafah crossing and destruction of alternative aid corridors have magnified the humanitarian impact. The strategy of controlling not only what enters Gaza but also how and when it enters is widely interpreted as deliberate restriction rather than incidental collateral effect.
The Biden administration, under pressure from Congress and allied governments, has called for “expanded humanitarian access” but stopped short of demanding a full lifting of the blockade. Meanwhile, regional actors like Egypt and Jordan have demanded emergency summits, citing concerns over regional destabilization and mass displacement.
Risks of regional escalation
As Gaza teeters on famine, the risk of broader escalation grows. Hezbollah’s activity on the northern Israeli border and Iran’s public support for Hamas contribute to a widening regional crisis. However, humanitarian organizations warn that starving a population will not yield military solutions—only broader instability.
Diplomatic negotiations have so far failed to secure a ceasefire or reliable humanitarian corridors. Proposed solutions such as offshore aid delivery or air drops remain symbolic without ground coordination.
A generational catastrophe in the making
Psychological and developmental toll on children
Gaza has more than 50 percent of the people below the age of 18. When a child is chronically stressed and malnourished during growth, cognitive and physical damage become permanent. Pediatric neurologists warn that Gaza’s children face a lifetime of health problems if current conditions continue.
The blockade does not only have the effects of crippling children physically but has also killed the education infrastructure. Hundreds of children have been left out of school with thousands of them displaced or orphaned. The effects on the society will be huge in the long-run as a whole generation will be raised in deprivation and fear.
Economic and institutional collapse
Gaza’s economy has effectively ceased to exist. Factories, farms and small enterprises have been ruined or thrown aside. Local production and trade have not been feasible due to the blockade which has in effect been escalated by bombing infrastructures.
The civil institutions such as courts, public health agencies, and municipalities, do not exist or least to the minimum. Even in the case of a ceasefire, there is no likelihood of recovery unless a massive reconstruction, as well as a long-term humanitarian investment, take place.
A test of global moral responsibility
The Gaza blockade presents a rare convergence of ethical, legal, and humanitarian failures. There is a threat to the credibility of the international community. By allowing the use of starvation to be used systematically with impunity, we would create a bad precedent not only to the situation in Gaza but future conflicts on Earth.
Either wilfully or not, the consequences of the blockade represent the strategy of a collective punishment that is not only devoid of moral standards but also contravene the valid legal provisions. The current course of action by the rest of the world is not merely to petition against such practices but what will be required is a resolute action in stopping additional misery.
Crisis in Gaza will turn into a full-scale famine unless there are some specific measures, such as lifting of the blockade, access of aid, and safety of medical infrastructure in Gaza that needs to be put in place. And with each day that passes by, the price of doing nothing is growing, not only to the Palestinian people, but also to the international sensibility of humanitarian law.
The coming weeks may determine whether the world is willing to treat Gaza’s suffering as an urgent matter of justice—or whether starvation will remain a tolerated tool of modern warfare.
