Hunger Games in Gaza: starving or under the bullets, according to Amnesty International
More than 500 civilians killed in less than a month trying to access food. In an overwhelming article published Thursday, July 3, Amnesty International denounces a militarized humanitarian distribution system, set up by Israel, which exposes the Palestinians of Gaza to systematic violence. The organization calls for the immediate lifting of the blockade and international sanctions against Israeli officials.
A device designed to exclude the UN and NGOs
Since March 2, 2025, the date of the taxation of the total blockade on Gaza, Israel has taken full control of humanitarian aid. The system implemented during the brief break in January – with more than 400 distribution points coordinated by the UN – has been dismantled. In its place: four closed centers, under military control, entrusted to a private entity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), linked to an American security company.
According to Amnesty, this system does not meet the needs of populations or international humanitarian standards. Above all, it aims to short-circuit humanitarian actors deemed critical of Israeli policy in Gaza. The result is catastrophic: civilians, exhausted, hungry, are forced to cross war areas to reach centers where distribution is done in chaotic and violent conditions.
Civilians targeted by shots
The surroundings of distribution centers have become, according to Amnesty, areas of extreme danger. Testimonies collected by the Journal Haaretz confirm that the Israeli army has given the instructions to shoot the crowds, even when there is no threat.
The figures are alarming: at least 500 dead and around 4,000 injured in the space of a few weeks. Among the victims are many children, orphans, the elderly. “This system does not save lives, it destroys them,” says Amnesty.
An assumed famine strategy
The humanitarian crisis is worsening day by day. 852 food trucks and basic necessities remain blocked on the Egyptian border due to the lack of Israeli authorization. At the same time, Israeli forces prohibit access to agricultural land and deliberately destroy greenhouses, farms and food stocks.
According to the NGO, this strategy is clearly the use of hunger as a weapon of war, which international law explicitly prohibits. Article II of the Convention on the Genocide considers as crime the fact of “intentionally submitting a group to conditions of existence resulting in physical destruction”.
Children die from malnutrition
Since October 2023, 66 children have died of severe acute malnutrition in Gaza. Nearly 19,000 have been hospitalized since the start of the year. The infant mortality rate has more than doubled in two years. Infants are particularly vulnerable. Infantile milk is almost not found, and many mothers can no longer breastfeed because of undernourishment and trauma. “The absence of suitable milk is sometimes a death sentence,” says Susan Maarouf, a nutrition specialist in Gaza.
A call to action, not to passive compassion
For Amnesty, the observation is clear: the international community failed to protect civilians from Gaza. Worse, it continues to provide military, diplomatic and economic support to a state that multiplies violations of international law.
“Not only has the international community failed to stop this genocide, but it also allowed Israel to constantly invent new means of destroying Palestinian lives and trampling on their human dignity. »»
– Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International
The NGO calls on states to stop any military assistance in Israel, to impose targeted sanctions against Israeli officials involved in international crimes, and to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, in particular by executing the arrest mandates issued.
