Gaza on the Brink of Famine as Israel's Total Blockade Approaches Its Third Month
Gaza is on the brink of famine as Israel's total blockade approaches its third month. Iman Rajab, sitting under her fly-infested tent in Gaza City, tirelessly sifts through lumps of flour using a strainer. She found this half-bag of flour in a dumpster, crawling with insects and showing clear signs of contamination. But for Rajab, it's still her only chance to feed and keep alive her six children, so she sifts through the flour again to make bread. "My children vomit after eating it. The smell is unbearable," she confides about the bread she makes. "But what else can I do? What will I feed my children if not this?" This is what CNN reported on their website on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
She is among hundreds of thousands of parents in Gaza struggling to feed their children as the war-torn enclave slides into total famine, entirely manmade. For nearly two months, Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, preventing any humanitarian aid trucks or commercial goods from entering—an unprecedented period in the history of Israeli blockades.
Israel claims to have suspended aid deliveries to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages. But according to international organizations, this decision constitutes a violation of international law. The representative of the State of Palestine asserted on Monday before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel is using the blockade of humanitarian aid as a "weapon of war" in Gaza, while a week of hearings regarding Israel's humanitarian obligations towards Palestinians began in The Hague.
Israel, which is not participating in the hearings, immediately retaliated, denouncing a "systematic persecution." The ICJ, located in The Hague (Netherlands), opened its week of hearings more than 50 days after the establishment of a total blockade on aid entering the war-torn Gaza Strip.
"All UN-supported bakeries in Gaza have been forced to close their doors. Nine out of ten Palestinians do not have access to clean drinking water," said Ammar Hijazi, representative of the State of Palestine to international organizations, during the opening of the hearing. "UN offices and those of other international agencies are empty... Hunger is here. Humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war," he added before the panel of 15 judges.
According to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, speaking in Jerusalem, the proceedings "are part of a systematic persecution and delegitimization of Israel." "It is not Israel that should be judged. It is the UN and UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees)," he told reporters.
Israel has enacted a law prohibiting the UN's subsidiary agency from operating on Israeli soil after accusing some staff members of participating in the attack by the Palestinian Hamas movement on October 7, 2023, which triggered the conflict. Independent investigations indicate that Israel has not provided evidence regarding these allegations.
"As an occupying power, the State of Israel must provide services or facilitate their provision—including through UNRWA—to the population it occupies," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, in a statement on Monday. Last Friday, he condemned "a manmade famine driven by political motives."
"Urgently"
In December, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion "as a matter of priority and urgency." The resolution requests the ICJ to clarify Israel's obligations regarding the presence of the UN, its agencies, international organizations, or third states to "ensure and facilitate the unobstructed delivery of urgent supplies essential for the survival of the Palestinian civilian population."
Israel controls all flows of international aid, vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip affected by an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and interrupted them on March 2, just days before the collapse of a fragile ceasefire after 15 months of relentless fighting. Last Friday, the World Food Programme warned that all community kitchens in Gaza "should run completely out of food in the coming days." AFP images from one of these establishments in Gaza City show a dense crowd of children outside, desperately holding out their pots and pans for food.
According to the UN, about 500,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the end of the two-month ceasefire.
Israel resumed its air and ground attacks on March 18, killing at least 2,111 Palestinians and triggering what the UN has described as "probably the worst" humanitarian crisis in the territory since the war began.
The Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, against Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. Israel's military reprisals have since killed at least 52,243 people in Gaza, again mostly civilians, according to the figures from the territory's Health Ministry, considered reliable by the UN.
Israeli officials repeat that military pressure is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, of whom 34 are reported dead, according to the Israeli army. In January 2024, the ICJ ordered Israel to prevent any potential acts of genocide against Palestinians and to allow humanitarian aid access to Gaza. In March 2024, it demanded new Israeli measures in light of "the encroaching famine" in the Palestinian territory.
Last July, the ICJ also issued an advisory opinion deeming the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories "illegal," demanding that it cease as soon as possible. ICJ advisory opinions are not legally binding, but this one is expected to increase diplomatic pressure on Israel.
In front of the Peace Palace, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told reporters that Palestinians are building an international law case against Israel, "block by block." "We are convinced that after this horrific tragedy befalling our people, especially in the Gaza Strip, the scales of justice will tip towards Palestine."
Sources: CNN and Agence France-Presse