First published in Countercurrents, 26 July 2025

“They that die by famine die by inches”

“Famine,” wrote Matthew Henry, “is not just a physical breaking but a slow erasure of hope.” Nowhere is this more true than in Gaza, where nearly half a million people face starvation. Hunger moves silently through the streets, while food trucks sit stranded behind sealed borders.

As famine is unfolding before our eyes, in the heart of Gaza, children are dying not just from bombs, but from hunger. Babies cry with no milk. Mothers collapse from exhaustion. The streets are filled with the sounds of grief and desperation. This is not a forgotten warzone, but it is a living, breathing humanitarian catastrophe. And the world, for the most part, is watching in silence.

Over the past months, Gaza has become a graveyard for dreams and dignity. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 59,000 people have been killed since October 2023. More than 1,000 children were reportedly killed in just the last month, as Israeli newspaper ‘Haaretz’ confirmed. But the killing is not just from bullets or bombs—it is from starvation, a slow and deliberate death. Hospitals report children dying from malnutrition. People are surviving on weeds, grass, and even animal feed. The health system has collapsed. The water is polluted. The air is thick with fear.

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies are trying to help, but their efforts are blocked at every turn. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has repeatedly warned of worsening hunger. Aid trucks are destroyed or delayed. Over 1,000 truckloads of food and medicine were deliberately destroyed by the Israeli military, as confirmed by Israel’s own public broadcaster. Food rots at border crossings while people inside Gaza starve.
Even when limited aid enters, it is not enough. Fuel for hospitals and water facilities runs dry. Pregnant women and newborn babies are especially at risk. The destruction is systematic, and the suffering is no accident—it is part of a strategy of collective punishment.

However, amid all this, the international community remains largely silent. World powers who speak loud about human rights go mute when it comes to Gaza. The United States, under Donald Trump, has backed Israel unconditionally. Under Trump’s watch, Palestinian aid was cut, and the Israeli occupation was emboldened. Even now, as the situation reaches an unimaginable scale of horror, Washington deflects blame and protects Israel from accountability at global forums.

The silence is not just cruel. It is complicit.

This crisis is not just a political failure—it is a moral one. The rights of children are protected under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory. Starving civilians as a method of warfare violates international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions. The use of hunger as a weapon is a war crime. Many legal scholars unhesitatingly pointed out that what is happening in Gaza amounts to genocide.

Despite this, the calls for justice are drowned out by geopolitical interests and media distractions. While streets from New York to Istanbul fill with protestors demanding a ceasefire, governments choose to ignore the pleas. Aid agencies, meanwhile, are ready to scale up operations—but they are blocked by Israel and left unsupported by many of the world’s leading powers.

So, what lies ahead?

First, there must be immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza. Can the UN ensure that? Border crossings must be opened. Fuel, food, water, and medical supplies must be allowed in—now, not later.

Second, the international community must impose pressure—not just words, but action. Russia, China and India should not be just passive spectators. Sanctions, investigations, and legal accountability must follow. The International Criminal Court (ICC) must act swiftly to examine these possible war crimes.

Third, we need global moral clarity. The suffering of Palestinian children cannot be negotiable. There must be a clear stand that starvation, displacement, and indiscriminate bombing are not acceptable under any circumstances. Not in Gaza, not anywhere. And most importantly, Hamas must come around to the reality that these people can no longer be made shields for their fight against Israel. They must know that the people are paying a huge price for their misadventure.

History will not forgive this silence. It will not forgive a world that watched children starve and chose to look away. If we still believe in justice, in law, and in humanity, then we must act—urgently, decisively, and with compassion. Gaza cannot wait.