Amnesty International accuses Israel of "carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation" in Gaza

Amnesty International has accused Israel of imposing a "deliberate policy" of starvation in Gaza amid reports of widespread hunger and disease.

In their latest report, the human rights organisation said Israel's "deliberate campaign of starvation" in Gaza is "systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life."

The report cites firsthand accounts from displaced Palestinians and medical professionals who treated malnourished children, which Amnesty International said are "the intended outcome of plans and policies that Israel has designed and implemented" to destroy the Palestinian people.

"The testimonies we have collected are far more than accounts of suffering, they are a searing indictment of an international system that has granted Israel a license to torment Palestinians with near-total impunity for decades," said Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns at Amnesty International.

"While millions around the world continue to take to the streets in protest and world leaders engage in rhetorical posturing, Israel's deliberate and systematic campaign of starvation continues to inflict unbearable suffering on an entire population. Palestinian children are being left to waste away, forcing families into an impossible choice: helplessly hearing the cries of their emaciated children pleading for food, or risking death or injury in a desperate search for aid."

The accounts are supported by recent statistics reflecting the extent of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza: The Nutrition Cluster reported nearly 13,000 children were admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition in July, the highest monthly figure since October 2023. As of August 17, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 110 children have died due to malnutrition.

Such conditions have especially impacted pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, according to the report. Save the Children reported that of the 747 pregnant and breastfeeding women screened in its clinics during the first half of July, 43% were malnourished.

Hadeel, a 28-year-old pregnant mother of two, was one of the displaced Palestinians interviewed by Amnesty International. She said that the prenatal care, vitamins and medical tests provided by the United Nations during her previous pregnancies are now completely absent.

"I panic just thinking about the potential impact of my own hunger on the baby’s health, its weight, whether it will have [birth defects], and even if the baby is born healthy, what life awaits it, amidst displacement, bombs, tents," Hadeel said.

Additional interviews reflected how elderly people, as well as those with disabilities and preexisting conditions, are also at significant risk.

"I feel like I have become a burden on my family," said Aziza, a 75-year-old displaced Palestinian with various pre-existing health conditions.

"When we were displaced, they had to push me on a wheelchair. With toilet queues extremely long in the camp where we stay, I need adult diapers, which are extremely expensive. I need medication for diabetes, blood pressure and a heart condition, and have had to take medicine which has expired."

Amnesty International also interviewed an emergency doctor at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, who said many of his patients would be leading "reasonable lives" if not for the "combination of starvation, destruction and depletion of the healthcare system, unsanitary conditions, and multiple displacements under inhumane conditions."

The doctor (who requested anonymity) said a shortage of medicine and equipment combined with an influx of patients has resulted in an "invisible catastrophe" in which people with new or preexisting conditions often go unseen due to a "preoccupation with only the amount of food that enters, without looking at the full picture."

He added that the hospital is only partially functioning and operates under continuing bombardments from Israel. Al-Shifa Hospital was once Gaza's largest medical facility before it was attacked in two Israeli raids. The UN recently accused Israel of deliberately targeting hospitals and healthcare workers in what they called "medicide."

Earlier this month, Israel carried out a targeted strike on a tent for journalists at the main gates of Al-Shifa Hospital, killing an entire team of Al Jazeera reporters. The team had been reporting on the conditions of starvation faced by the people of Gaza before they were murdered.

Amnesty International urged the international community to take action to remedy the crisis in Gaza. The report recommended lifting the aid blockade, enacting a sustained ceasefire, ensuring the delivery of necessary supplies to healthcare facilities, issuing protections for displaced civilians, allowing humanitarian organisations to deliver aid and shelter safely and an end to any escalations by Israel.

"The world cannot continue to pat Israel on the shoulder for trickling in aid and viewing these cosmetic measures as a sufficient response to its calculated destruction of the life of Palestinians in Gaza," Guevara Rosas said.

"In the face of the horrors Israel is inflicting on the Palestinian population in Gaza, the international community, particularly Israel’s allies, including the European Union and its members must uphold their moral and legal obligations to bring an end to Israel’s ongoing genocide."