🤥 Israel is not restricting humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

The 1948 Genocide Convention says that intentionally causing a group of people to suffer conditions that could kill them, like starvation, can be considered genocide. Palestinians in Gaza are being deliberately starved by Israel’s prohibition of all life-sustaining resources, including food and water, from entering the Gaza Strip. The UN, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the EU’s foreign policy chief have accused Israel of creating a man-made famine and using it as a weapon of war.

In Israel’s most recent war on Gaza, Israel has denied the entry of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, depriving Palestinians of essential resources such as food, water, and medication. Before the 2023-2024 war, Israel was allowing 500 aid trucks to enter Gaza on a daily basis. According to the World Food Programme and UNRWA, during this war this number has dwindled to between 10-150 trucks a day.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported a one-third decrease in aid trucks allowed into Gaza by Israeli authorities from January to February 2024. This decline occurred despite the International Court of Justice’s ruling on January 26, which mandated Israel to implement “immediate and effective measures” for aid provision to Gaza. Amnesty International stated that Israeli authorities have “failed to take even the bare minimum steps” to comply with the ICJ ruling.

Even the U.S., Israel’s staunchest and unwavering supporter, has been openly critical of Israel for restricting the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

In March 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading authority on global food insecurity, presented a five-level alarm regarding the risk of famine in Gaza. The report unequivocally asserted that this crisis was entirely avoidable, emphasizing that an immediate ceasefire and Israel removing all restrictions to the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip are essential solutions.

Israel’s allies have criticized Israel for blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. When aid is permitted, Israel has deliberately targeted and killed Palestinians trying to access aid. Israel has also deliberately targeted those tasked with distributing and protecting aid convoys.

Israel’s genocidal starvation is the culmination of a pattern of long-standing control over aid entering Gaza for decades. For instance, between 2007 and 2010, Israel determined truck numbers for food supplies based on the minimum caloric requirement (2,279 calories per person per day) to avoid malnutrition, using aid control as collective punishment against Palestinian civilians.