Call for UN to Declare Gaza a Famine-Stricken Area
Human Rights Press Conference Warns: A Whole Generation Is Threatened by the Crime of Starvation

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) and Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations have called on the United Nations to declare the Gaza Strip a famine zone, along with the resulting legal, humanitarian, and political implications. They firmly rejected dealing with the so-called "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation," whose centers have turned into death traps. They demanded replacing it with transparent mechanisms under international supervision to ensure safe and fair access to aid.

During a joint press conference, the ICHR, the Palestinian NGO Network, and the Human Rights Organizations Council warned of the severe deterioration in the catastrophic humanitarian and health situation in Gaza, with famine entering a new stage that signals imminent mass deaths unless the international community acts immediately.

ICHR Commissioner General, Mr. Issam Arouri, stated, “The policy of systematic starvation has entered a phase of birth prevention and physical annihilation, which is a new stage of the ongoing genocide in Gaza for over 21 months.”

From Gaza, Mr. Amjad Shawa, Deputy Commissioner General of ICHR and head of the NGO Network, presented facts and figures on the famine’s impact, noting that more than 2.2 million people—94% of Gaza’s population—have been forcibly displaced to an area that does not exceed 12% of the strip’s total area ( 50 km²).  He pointed out that thousands of families are sleeping on sidewalks, streets, and by the seashore, mostly without tents, and added that 82% of hospitals are out of service, and 75% of medicines and medical supplies have run out.

Shawa added, “Under the weight of hunger and thirst, bodies have collapsed, and famine has affected all age groups. People are collapsing in the streets, unable to move due to exhaustion and starvation. Around 50,000 pregnant women have fetuses at risk, 55,000 infants, 110,000 elderly people, 90,000 people with disabilities, and 900,000 children are suffering from various forms of malnutrition. An entire generation is at risk of long-term effects of malnutrition unless humanitarian aid and specialized medical teams arrive immediately.”

During the press conference, Dr. Ammar Dwaik, ICHR’s Director General, outlined the key demands of the joint statement, which include:
•    Pressuring the occupying power to immediately and unconditionally open all border crossings to ensure the smooth and safe flow of essential humanitarian aid, food, water, fuel, and medicine, under UN and trusted local and international organizations’ supervision.
•    Calling on the Egyptian government to fulfill its legal and humanitarian responsibilities by permanently opening the Rafah crossing without restrictions, facilitating the passage of patients and aid, and engaging in active diplomacy to pressure Israel to lift the siege immediately.
•    Urging Arab and Islamic countries to adhere to the resolutions of the Arab and Islamic summits and to take unified, immediate action to break the blockade and deliver aid. This includes political and diplomatic pressure on Israel to lift the siege, as well as providing urgent financial, medical, and logistical support.
•    Actively engaging in international accountability efforts to prosecute those responsible for these crimes, including launching an independent and transparent international investigation into the crime of mass starvation as a weapon of war, and referring those responsible to the International Criminal Court.
•    Calling on the ICC prosecutor to expand investigations into war crimes and genocide in Gaza to ensure enforcement of the principle of no impunity.
•    Calling on civil society organizations and national human rights institutions, both Arab and international, to effectively pressure their governments to take clear positions on this catastrophe, organize international solidarity campaigns to stop the famine, document violations, and shed light on the crime of starvation as a grave breach of international law.
•    Holding the international community and the UN accountable for failing to prevent mass famine and protect civilians, and demanding the activation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle without delay and immediate action to save lives before it is too late, considering it a legal and moral obligation, not a political choice.
Regarding children’s rights, Mr. Khaled Quzmar, Director of Defense for Children International – Palestine, said that Israel, the occupying power, has used starvation as a weapon in Gaza, where children make up around 50% of the population. “We are witnessing an unprecedented stage of famine, reaching a level that threatens the lives of children. Since the beginning of the genocide war, children have accounted for 30-40% of the deaths. Now, with the systematic starvation policy, children make up 70-80% of the total victims. Children are the most affected by famine,” he warned.