The People of Gaza Are Dying of Hunger… While Israel Continues to Commit Genocide and Kill Starving Aid Seekers

Date: July 20, 2025

Urgent Humanitarian Statement and Appeal

The People of Gaza Are Dying of Hunger… While Israel Continues to Commit Genocide and Kill Starving Aid Seekers

The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) states: As the Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip enters its 22nd month, and with the continuation of the suffocating blockade for over five months and the prevention of humanitarian aid from entering, famine has now become a horrifying reality. Israel is systematically using starvation as a weapon of genocide against more than two million people. It continues to target civilians and commit massacres amid disturbing international inaction and alarming complicity that amounts to participation in the crime.

ICSPR: This morning, Israeli occupation forces committed a heinous massacre against starving civilians in the Al-Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza City, by deliberately shooting at people waiting for aid. The initial toll indicates 67 people were killed and more than 150 wounded. This brings the number of aid-seeking civilians killed since the start of operations by the criminal US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on May 27, 2025, to 1,000 martyrs and over 6,000 wounded, with around 70 people missing. This demands urgent international intervention to halt the operations of this US-Israeli company, hold its leaders accountable, and ensure the reinstatement of international organizations—especially UNRWA—in distributing humanitarian aid to help end civilian starvation and the deepening humanitarian catastrophe.

ICSPR: Gaza is dying and heading toward an unprecedented, total humanitarian catastrophe. According to UN, field, and health reports:

• Gaza’s population has entered Phase 5 of the Famine Index, the most severe and dangerous phase, where there is no food, no water, and no means of survival.

• This phase means people are dying of hunger. Israel is committing the largest starvation and mass killing crime of the modern era in front of the world. Based on reports from international organizations, the Ministry of Health, and ICSPR’s own data:

  • 100% of Gaza’s population (2.3 million people) suffer from severe food insecurity.

  • Over 1.1 million people face catastrophic famine (IPC Level 5).

  • 73 children have died from acute malnutrition due to famine.

  • At least 620 civilians have died from hunger and lack of medical care.

  • Deaths have been recorded even in displacement centers.

  • Dozens of infants have died from lack of milk and clean water.

  • Over 5,800 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are at imminent risk of death.

  • UNRWA reports 1 in 10 children (of 242,000 examined) suffers from malnutrition, while over 600,000 children are in extreme danger.

  • The World Food Programme (WFP) states 1 in 3 people go days without eating.

  • 1,000 civilians have been killed in massacres while waiting for food aid at criminal US-Israeli aid distribution centers.

  • The price of 1 kg of flour in the black market has reached around $70 due to the siege and lack of supply.

  • 92% of agricultural lands and 1,218 water wells have been destroyed by Israeli bombardment.

  • Gaza’s healthcare system has completely collapsed, with 90% of medical equipment lost and most hospitals shut down.

ICSPR affirms that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute dual international crimes:

1. Genocide, by imposing living conditions intended to physically destroy the population, as defined by Article II of the Genocide Convention.

2. War crimes, by using starvation as a method of warfare, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.

Israel continues its grave violations with complete disregard for international law and human rights standards, maintaining the closure of crossings, restricting aid access, targeting civilians, and destroying essential infrastructure.

Daily scenes in Gaza—children and patients dying of hunger, others scavenging garbage for food, families eating tree leaves, mothers fainting from hunger, journalists collapsing live on camera—leave no doubt that a deliberate policy of mass starvation is being used to subjugate Gaza’s population.

ICSPR, in line with its human rights mission, calls on the international community, the United Nations, and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention to take urgent and concrete action, including:

• Declare Gaza a famine zone and pressure Israel to enforce an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, open humanitarian corridors, and halt all criminal US-Israeli interference in aid distribution and civilian killings.

• Take serious and binding steps for decisive humanitarian intervention to stop the genocide, fully open all crossings unconditionally, and guarantee the flow of food, water, medicine, and fuel under UN and ICRC supervision.

• Deploy an international protection force under the “Uniting for Peace” resolution to protect civilians and ensure aid delivery, as part of ending Israeli occupation.

• Prosecute Israel for using starvation as a weapon of war at international courts, and accelerate the work of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

• Impose international sanctions on Israel and stop all forms of military support.

• Enable humanitarian organizations, especially UNRWA, to operate freely without political or military interference.

ICSPR calls on the free people of the world—states, organizations, and individuals—to heed this appeal and continue popular, media, human rights, and diplomatic actions to save innocent lives, particularly children who are being denied their most basic right: the right to live.