In the face of relentless bombardment, mass displacement, and the near-total collapse of humanitarian access, Gaza’s more than two million residents are enduring what international observers now describe as a man-made famine — and a potential war crime.
Journalists barred from entering Gaza must rely on the few remaining local reporters risking their lives and the grim accounts of humanitarian agencies. Over 200 journalists have been killed since the war reignited on 18 March, after Israel broke a two-month ceasefire with an extensive wave of airstrikes. With borders sealed and humanitarian aid blocked since the beginning of March, Gaza has become what aid workers are calling “a death zone.”
Pascal Hundt of the International Committee of the Red Cross described an “overwhelming daily struggle” for civilians, warning that conditions must not be allowed to worsen. Yet the opposite is unfolding. Israel’s renewed military push, reportedly backed by plans to forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, continues to devastate an already besieged population.
In London, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, painted a harrowing picture of starvation and despair during an interview with BBC saying, “Starvation is spreading, people are exhausted, people are hungry… we can expect that in the coming weeks if no aid is coming in, that people will not die because of the bombardment, but they will die because of the lack of food. This is the weaponisation of humanitarian aid.”
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update, Gaza is not only on the verge of famine — it is already experiencing catastrophic hunger. Every single resident is acutely food insecure. Some 470,000 people — over one-fifth of Gaza’s population — are in IPC Phase 5, a state of “extreme lack of food and starvation.”
In practical terms, the phase five classification, the most acute used by the IPC, estimates that “71,000 children and more than 17,000 mothers will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition”.
Lazzarini did not mince words: “Food and humanitarian assistance is being used to meet political or military objectives. That is a war crime.”
Behind the scenes, Israeli ministers have openly supported this strategy. Defence Minister Israel Katz referred to the aid blockade as a “main pressure lever,” while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir echoed this sentiment, calling continued aid “a historic mistake” unless Hamas surrendered. These remarks sparked outrage among hostage families in Israel, who accused the government of prioritising territory over the lives of captives.
Israel argues that self-defence justifies its actions since 7 October 2023 when Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others attacked Israel, killed around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, and took 251 others hostage. Any other government, it says, would have done the same.
Meanwhile, thousands of tons of aid sit mere miles away in Egypt. UN agencies and international NGOs refuse to collaborate with Israeli-proposed schemes that would use private firms and soldiers to distribute rations, citing concerns over credibility and access.
As starvation spreads, Israeli officials have mounted a campaign against UNRWA and Lazzarini personally, accusing Mr Lazzarini of lying. One official report posted online in January of this year was headed “Dismantling Unrwa Chief Lazzarini’s Falsehoods”. It claimed that he had “consistently made false statements which have profoundly misinformed the public debate on this issue”. Unrwa, Israel says, has been infiltrated and exploited by Hamas to an unprecedented degree. It says some Unrwa employees took part in the attacks of 7 October.
Mr Lazzarini denied the personal accusations directed at him by Israel and the broader ones aimed at Unrwa. He said UNRWA investigated 19 staff named by Israel and concluded nine of them may have a case to answer. All 19 were suspended. Mr Lazzarini said that since then Unrwa had received “hundreds of allegations from the State of Israel. Each time, as a rule-based organisation, we keep asking for substantiated information”. He said they had never received it.
The allegations of genocide, brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa, are fiercely rejected by Israel, including both government and opposition parties. Yet Lazzarini says the scale of destruction — of homes, hospitals, and entire communities — could support that accusation. “It could end up to genocide,” he warned, citing “massive atrocities” and the “systematic destruction” of civil life in Gaza.
For critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the continuation of the war serves less to protect Israel and more to protect his political survival. His coalition, dependent on far-right religious nationalists, has threatened to collapse if military operations slow. With Netanyahu under investigation for corruption and under pressure for his government’s failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7 attack, analysts argue that the offensive may also be a political shield.
Even US officials, including President Donald Trump, have begun to express unease. Trump remarked that “the people of Gaza must be fed,” a notable shift in tone.
Yet the future remains bleak. With the vast majority of Gaza now uninhabitable, and a final Israeli push likely to concentrate what remains of the civilian population in the devastated south near Rafah, observers fear a humanitarian collapse of historic proportions.
“In the coming years we will realise how wrong we have been… on the wrong side of the history. We have under our watch let a massive atrocity unfold,” said Lazzarini.
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