“The Israeli government uses starvation as a weapon of war, an exercise that is lethal for children in Gaza,” said Omar Shakir, director of the NGO Human Rights in Israel and Palestine. This month, Gaza’s health ministry reported that 32 people had died of hunger and dehydration in hospitals in the north of the region, while Save the Children confirmed on April 2 that 27 children had died from malnutrition and disease. related to lack of food. “If the world does not act now, countless more children will be added to that number,” said Xavier Joubert of Save the Children.
In early March, World Health Organization (WHO) officials reported that children were dying of hunger in the Kamal Adwan and al-Awda hospitals in northern Gaza. “Kamal Adwan Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in northern Gaza and is overwhelmed by its number of patients,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. In southern Gaza, although assistance is more accessible, it remains insufficient. In mid-February, the WHO had already reported that 5% of children under 2 years of age suffered from acute malnutrition.
Doctors and families in the Gaza Strip have pointed to children and pregnant women as those most affected by the lack of food. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the pediatric unit at Kamal Adwan Hospital, confirmed to Human Rights Watch that 26 children had died at his hospital after experiencing starvation-related complications. At least 16 of the deceased children were less than 5 months old and ten of them were between 1 and 8 years old. According to Dr. Safiya, one of the babies died at just two days old, after being born with serious dehydration problems apparently aggravated by the poor health of her mother: “I didn’t have milk to give her.”
International humanitarian law prohibits the use of hunger as a weapon of war and considers it a war crime. Since the October 2023 attacks on Israel led by Hamas, the Israeli government has blocked the delivery of aid, food and fuel to Gaza, leaving civilians without the necessary means to survive.
On April 4, the Government of Israel agreed to implement a series of measures to increase the amount of aid reaching Gaza, in response to pressure from US authorities. The US special envoy for humanitarian efforts in Gaza, David Satterfield, warned “an imminent risk of famine for most, if not all, of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents.”
“Governments that are alarmed that Israel is starving civilians should not look for patches to solve the humanitarian crisis,” said Omar Shakir. “Israel’s allies such as Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and France must exert greater pressure and stop the shipment of weapons.”
