The Gaza Strip is being starved. This is not a humanitarian crisis born of neglect or natural disaster—it is a meticulously engineered atrocity. Israel, backed by the United States and tacitly enabled by Western allies, is orchestrating mass famine in Gaza as part of a genocidal campaign that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives through relentless bombardment. The deliberate withholding of food, the targeting of aid distribution sites, and the systematic destruction of basic infrastructure are not collateral damage—they are tools of extermination. In any historical context, such acts would be recognized for what they are: genocide.
On July 28, Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed that six more Palestinians, including two children, had died of starvation within 24 hours. This brings the total number of starvation-related deaths since October 2023 to 133, including 87 children. According to the World Health Organization, acute malnutrition has tripled among children under five in Gaza City since June. One in five children now suffers from wasting—a form of severe undernutrition with a high risk of death. These are not vague claims. These are hard facts. The blockade imposed by Israel, and enforced with the complicity of Egypt, has created a manufactured famine—an intentional act of mass suffering.
Humanitarian Aid as Hostage
Israel’s siege has shut down all crossings into Gaza since March 2. Aid trucks are blocked. Medical supplies are turned away. Humanitarian workers are targeted or denied access. This is not a security measure; it is collective punishment on a genocidal scale. The words of an Israeli military official, chilling in their frankness, betray the true intent: “I am not comfortable with bringing aid into Gaza, but that gives us legitimacy to continue the war.” Famine is being weaponized to weaken resistance, punish a population, and pursue demographic erasure.
This strategy mirrors historical atrocities. The parallels with the Nazi starvation policies in Eastern Europe during the Holocaust are too glaring to ignore. Then, as now, the deliberate deprivation of food was used to annihilate a population, justified by dehumanizing rhetoric and carried out under the guise of war. Gaza is not simply under siege; it is being subjected to an extermination campaign. The difference is that today’s perpetrators do so with the full knowledge of the international community, and in the shadow of the Holocaust that supposedly taught humanity to never allow genocide again.
Western Powers: Enablers Through Silence and Support
The genocide in Gaza is not only being carried out by Israeli hands—it is being facilitated by others. The United States remains Israel’s chief military sponsor and diplomatic shield. Billions in aid and weaponry continue to flow even as images of starving children and bombed-out hospitals dominate global media. When international institutions attempt to hold Israel accountable—be it the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court—Western states obstruct justice or dismiss findings as biased.
The UK, while condemning the “drip-feeding” of aid and acknowledging disproportionate military force, continues to license arms to Israel. France, Spain, Ireland, and Norway’s symbolic recognition of a Palestinian state offers some hope, but these gestures mean little without a complete halt to complicity. The reality is that these governments are standing idly by—some actively aiding—while Gaza starves.
Complicity at the Rafah Crossing
Egypt, once seen as a potential lifeline for Palestinians, is complicit through its enforced closure of the Rafah crossing. Government officials admit that US pressure prevents them from reopening it. As a result, children in Gaza are dying just kilometers away from trucks filled with food that are not allowed through. Egypt’s betrayal of the Palestinian cause has not gone unnoticed by its own citizens, as evidenced by the unprecedented attack on a State Security building by young Egyptians angered by the closure of Rafah and the country’s subservience to foreign powers.
Read More: Western media outlets warn Israel of starving Gaza journalists
The Language of Genocide
To speak of “famine” in Gaza without naming its architects is to participate in the erasure of reality. To suggest that this is a “humanitarian crisis” detached from political and military intent is to whitewash genocide. The WHO, the ICRC, and countless human rights groups have stated the obvious: the famine is entirely preventable. The starvation of Gazans is not happening despite Israel’s military operation—it is the operation.
Israeli officials, emboldened by impunity, deny that starvation even exists—while bombing bakeries, blocking food trucks, and attacking “safe zones.” Over 1,121 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food at distribution points, many manned by Israeli soldiers or US security contractors.
A Global Failure
This moment is a test of global conscience. Western democracies that pride themselves on upholding human rights are standing by—or worse, participating—as an entire people are starved, bombed, and erased. The Holocaust was not only a warning—it was a promise that genocide would never again be tolerated. That promise has been broken in Gaza.
Silence, neutrality, and “both sides” rhetoric are forms of complicity. The situation demands an immediate ceasefire, full and unhindered humanitarian access, and an end to arms exports and political cover for Israel’s actions. Anything less is a betrayal of humanity.
History is watching. The world failed once before. Will it fail again?