Gaza Herald — The Gaza Strip faces an immediate, catastrophic resurgence of famine as commercial flour reserves deplete, major bakeries shut down, and severe blockade restrictions strangle the entry of basic food and humanitarian supplies.
According to a new investigation by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israeli occupation authorities continue to manipulate the amount, type, and delivery schedules of food allowed into the enclave, effectively weaponizing engineered starvation against more than two million Palestinians. Combined with the total collapse of local purchasing power and the systematic destruction of agricultural infrastructure, these tactics constitute an ongoing campaign of genocide aimed at the physical destruction of the population under siege.
Field documentation across Gaza’s central markets and displacement centers reveals an acute absence of fresh produce, fruit, and essential nutritional goods, with remaining items priced far beyond the reach of impoverished families. Depleted flour stocks and severe fuel blockades recently forced the shutdown of key municipal bakeries, including two major facilities in Gaza City, reinstating long, exhausting bread queues across the Strip.
The Bakery Owners Association warned that the remaining seven bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) face total shutdown within 48 hours due to blocked delivery trucks. The crisis is further compounded by WFP’s recent announcement suspending monthly food assistance to 500,000 displaced Palestinians due to global funding shortfalls, threatening a sudden surge in acute malnutrition as winter approaches.
Systematic Blockade Restrictions and the Deceptive Strategy of Aid Rationing
Analysis of border crossing activity confirms that Israeli military authorities permit supplies that satisfy, at best, only 37 percent of Gaza’s baseline survival needs. Euro-Med Monitor documented that while essential foods, fresh vegetables, and medical consumables remain strictly barred under arbitrary “dual-use” pretexts, Israeli officials deliberately permit limited quantities of non-essential commercial items like snacks and soft drinks.
Rights monitors emphasize that this selective allowance is designed to mask an intentional policy of severe nutritional deprivation, keeping the population trapped in a state of permanent physical vulnerability and constant food insecurity.
As of November 2026, Gaza receives only about 37 percent of the minimum daily food and survival supplies its population needs, leaving a staggering 63 percent deficit and keeping the enclave at continued risk of famine.
The human toll of this engineered famine is already devastating across all demographics. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that at least 466 Palestinians, including 157 children, have died directly from malnutrition and starvation since 2024, while more than 158,000 cases of acute malnutrition have been recorded among children under five.
Health data also indicate that anemia among pregnant women rose to 61 percent in 2026, while pregnancy losses quadrupled compared with pre-war levels. Meanwhile, chronically ill residents, including diabetic and kidney patients, report being forced to survive on a single daily meal of plain rice or lentils, worsening their medical conditions and accelerating complications amid the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system.
International Legal Violations and the Duty to Enforce ICC Warrants
Deliberately depriving civilians of food, water, and medical supplies violates explicit obligations under Articles 55 and 59 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which require an occupying power to ensure essential provisions for the civilian population. Furthermore, intentionally impeding humanitarian relief to starve civilians as a method of warfare constitutes a core war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(25) of the Rome Statute.
Legal rights experts stress that these starvation practices violate the binding provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on March 28, 2024, which mandated the unhindered flow of basic services and land crossing expansions.
Euro-Med Monitor reiterated that these acts provide clear evidence of genocidal intent under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention by deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians. Human rights organizations urge High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to impose immediate arms embargoes, diplomatic sanctions, and legal pressure on Israel.
Additionally, rights groups call on all states parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to cooperate fully in executing the arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for the war crime of starvation, ensuring full international accountability for those orchestrating the siege.
