Michigan — The American Center for Justice (ACJ) expresses profound shock and unequivocal condemnation over the ongoing, systematic starvation of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. The Center warns that this deliberate deprivation is compounding an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis, amid a suffocating blockade, widespread destruction of healthcare infrastructure, and the prevention of vital humanitarian and medical aid from reaching those in need. The ACJ stresses that what the people of Gaza, especially children,bare enduring amounts to a silent, calculated genocide carried out through starvation and the denial of their fundamental right to life.
In just 24 hours, hospitals in Gaza recorded the deaths of seven civilians, including one child, from hunger and malnutrition, a shocking testament to the scale of the disaster in a territory home to over two million people. These deaths add to a mounting toll: the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that starvation has now claimed 169 lives, including 93 children, an alarming sign that starvation has become an entrenched policy targeting society’s most vulnerable.
The ACJ also highlights that Gaza’s healthcare system is nearing total collapse. Dr. Mohammed Abu Afash, Director of Medical Relief, stated that over 17,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, while essential medicines such as insulin are unavailable and barred from entering Gaza. He added that medical staff themselves now face hunger and lack even basic nutrition and care, severely undermining their ability to deliver essential services.
In parallel, Dr. Fares Afana, Director of Ambulance and Emergency Services, reported that more than 80% of Gaza’s ambulances have been destroyed by Israeli strikes, crippling emergency response operations and leaving the wounded and sick without aid.
The ACJ emphasizes that the tragedy unfolding in Gaza is a compounded catastrophe, a deadly convergence of siege, starvation, destruction, and genocide that has left over 208,000 people dead or wounded, the vast majority of them women and children. Thousands remain missing, while hundreds of thousands of displaced families continue to face hunger and homelessness simultaneously.
The ACJ asserts that these acts against Palestinian civilians in Gaza constitute a flagrant and grave violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly prohibit starvation as a method of warfare and require occupying powers to ensure civilians’ basic needs are met.
Furthermore, these acts amount to a clear war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(25) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which explicitly criminalizes “intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare,” including “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival.”
The ACJ stresses that the silence of the international community and the slow response of UN agencies in fulfilling their obligations amount to indirect complicity in this crime. Despite repeated warnings, the United Nations remains unable to secure the safe and sustained delivery of aid, while the occupying authorities continue to block the opening of permanent and effective humanitarian corridors. Meanwhile, some governments limit their response to statements without action, leaving Gaza’s residents to perish in silence.
The American Center for Justice urgently calls on the international community to act immediately to end this ongoing crime. It urges the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Criminal Court to launch serious, independent investigations into the use of starvation as a tool of genocide and to hold accountable the military and political leaders responsible.
The Center also renews its demand for the immediate and complete lifting of the blockade on Gaza, the unrestricted entry of food, medicine, fuel, and humanitarian aid, and the opening of safe corridors for patients and the wounded. It further calls for full protection for medical facilities and aid workers, and for the rehabilitation of Gaza’s devastated healthcare system.
The continued use of starvation as a policy in Gaza is a stain on the conscience of humanity and a stark test of the international system’s ability to protect the most basic human rights: the right to life, the right to food, and the right to dignity. The American Center for Justice (ACJ) holds the Israeli authorities, and the states that support them in this genocide, whether through military supplies or complicit international positions, fully responsible for this crime, and demands urgent accountability before starvation becomes an accepted weapon of war worldwide.
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