Gaza: Human Rights Watch denounces war crimes and a famine system organized by Israel and supported by the United States

Israeli forces killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians who were trying to access humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. These attacks took place within the framework of a food distribution system set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an organization supported by the United States and operating in coordination with the Israeli army.

Between May 27 and July 31, 2025, at least 859 Palestinian civilians were killed on or near the four GHF distribution sites, according to the United Nations. HRW stresses that deadly incidents have been recorded there almost every day, making distribution sites extremely dangerous for populations already in acute famine.

“Not only does the Israeli forces deliberately affect Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but they are almost daily on those who are desperately looking for food for their families,” said Belkis Wille, assistant director of the Crises and conflicts to Human Rights Watch.

“The Israeli forces, supported by the United States and private entrepreneurs, have set up a defaulting and militarized humanitarian aid distribution system, which has transformed aid distribution operations into real blood baths. »»

Human Rights Watch claims that the use of famine as a method of war constitutes a war crime, under international humanitarian law. The intentional and prolonged blocking of humanitarian aid and essential services, combined with systematic attacks against civilians, could also constitute crime against extermination humanity, even acts of genocide.

The organization calls on third states to put pressure on the Israeli authorities to put an end to the use of the lethal force against civilians, raise restrictions with humanitarian aid, and suspend the current distribution system, which it describes as “militarized” and “faulty”.

Through this press release, Human Rights Watch crossed a gravity threshold in his appreciation of the situation in Gaza. The organization is no longer limited to denouncing isolated violations of international law, but establishes a clear link between humanitarian architecture supported by the United States and the serious international crimes committee. By qualifying Israeli actions not only as war crimes, but also possible acts of genocide, HRW alerts the international community on the magnitude and the systematicity of violence against the Palestinian civilian population. This report gives third -party states an increased responsibility: that of not remaining passive in the face of what international law describes atrocities.