The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food has issued a stark warning, stating that Israel is carrying out the “fastest starvation campaign in modern history” in Gaza. As humanitarian aid remains blocked, UN experts highlight the worsening food crisis, warning that starvation is being used as a weapon of war.
A Rapid and Unprecedented Humanitarian Crisis
Speaking in Geneva, Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, questioned how Israel has managed to starve 2.3 million people so quickly and completely. “This is not a ceasefire by any definition. This is a slowing down of military violence while accelerating death through starvation,” Fakhri stated.
His remarks come amid reports that Israel has stopped all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, intensifying a crisis that has already claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives. The blockade has left Gazans without access to food, clean water, and medical supplies, pushing the population toward mass famine.
UN Experts Warn of Continuing Genocide
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, stressed that even if military violence were to cease immediately, “the genocide will continue because there are no ways to remedy the destruction that has been made.” She also warned that Israeli violence is spreading beyond Gaza, stating that “the genocidal violence is leaking out in the West Bank,” where attacks on Palestinians have intensified.
Albanese questioned how many more warnings the international community needs before taking meaningful action: “We will miss human rights very much where they are no longer able to protect us.”
International Law Violations and Regional Destabilization
UN officials have also condemned Israel’s military actions beyond Gaza, including operations in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on human rights, denounced Israel’s continued illegal occupation of the Golan Heights and its preemptive strikes in Syria and Lebanon, arguing that such actions violate international law and further destabilize the region.
Saul also criticized the United States’ complicity in enabling Israel’s actions, denouncing Washington’s proposed Gaza relocation plan as “manifestly illegal.” He warned that any forced displacement of Palestinians would violate the UN Charter and shatter fundamental principles of international law established since 1945.
Calls for Accountability and International Action
The crisis has prompted calls for the international community to take urgent action. Meg Satterthwaite, the UN special rapporteur on judicial independence, condemned US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), describing them as “an attack on the international rule of law.” She emphasized that such actions violate Article 70 of the Rome Statute, which criminalizes attempts to obstruct justice.
With starvation being used as a tool of war, UN officials have urged global leaders to act before it is too late. The blocking of humanitarian aid, forced displacement, and systematic destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure have drawn widespread condemnation, but meaningful international intervention remains absent.
The UN’s latest warning highlights the deliberate and systematic use of starvation in Gaza, marking a dark chapter in modern history. As the humanitarian crisis deepens, the question remains: How much longer will the world allow this to continue? The international community faces a critical moment—whether to uphold human rights and international law or to remain complicit in one of the most severe humanitarian catastrophes of our time.
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