Gaza: The UN officially declares famine, Israel accused of war crime

The UN officially declared this Friday, August 22, the famine in Gaza, a first in the history of the Middle East this Friday, August 22. More than half a million Palestinians already live in conditions qualified as “catastrophic”.

The integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) framework confirms that a famine is underway in the Gaza governorate and that it should extend to Deir El-Balah and Khan Younès by September. “Hiding people for military purposes is a war crime,” said António Guterres. The UN humanitarian leader, Tom Fletcher, pointed out “the systematic obstruction of Israel” which prevents the entry of food while the cargoes pile up at the borders.

Israel denies and speaks of a report “made for Hamas propaganda”. It is the worn and cynical argument that this genocidal state systematically advances to cover its crimes, a real propaganda of impunity that no one takes seriously. This state negationism is shattered against the unanimous observations of international organizations and the overwhelming testimonies of NGOs on the ground.

The official recognition of the famine no longer leaves any doubt: what takes place in Gaza is not a “humanitarian drama” but a genocide by hunger, planned and assumed. By deliberately obstructing access to food and help, Israel instrumentalizes the deprivation of food as a weapon of collective extermination. The indifference of the great powers in the face of this genocidal strategy consecrates an international complicity which will remain as an indelible stain in history.