As Gaza Faces Starvation, Food Rights Expert Tells UNGA Third Committee ‘You Did Not Act’ on Genocide Risk – Press release

18 October 2024

(Excerpts)

Seventy-ninth Session,
20th & 21st Meeting (AM & PM)

‘Severe Malnutrition Not Quiet or Painless Death’, Says Palestine Delegate

Major world Powers all tacitly agree to allow starvation to be a geopolitical weapon, an independent expert told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, citing conflict as the leading driver of hunger and malnutrition, as materialized in the looming famine in Gaza.

“One year ago, I […] told you that food is increasingly used as a weapon against civilians [and] raised alarm over the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people; unfortunately, you did not take any sufficient action,” stated Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food.

As he predicted, Israel’s war proved to be a genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.  “What the world has learned is that no number of facts, no degree of horror, no amount of death and pain is enough to trigger a global response to starvation or genocide,” he asserted.

Starvation and famine are a matter of human rights and a fundamental violation of international law, he said, observing: “Hunger often leads to armed conflict, and armed conflict always leads to hunger.” However, this vicious cycle does not happen overnight.  Citing occupation, oppression and exploitation as “the root causes of hunger”, he underscored that “famines are always political, structural, long-lasting and international”.  And while natural disasters might trigger famines, ultimately “all famines are designed by humans”.

The risk of starvation is rising because every permanent Security Council member and many wealthy countries have directly or indirectly supported starvation campaigns over the past decade, he warned, urging the General Assembly to recognize that “starvation is always an instance of genocide, extermination, or torture”.

In the ensuing interactive dialogue, speakers sounded the alarm over the catastrophic levels of hunger and imminent risk of famine caused by the insufficient entry of aid into Gaza.  They stressed that all routes — land, air and sea — are valuable in meeting the vast humanitarian needs of civilians there.

“Children in Gaza are dying of starvation and severe malnutrition,” stated the observer for the State of Palestine, stressing that “severe malnutrition is not a quiet or painless death”.  As children get hungry, their bodies weaken, their vision blurs, their immune systems and organs fail and their hearts stop.

“At this stage, children are too weak to cry,” she said. Palestinian fathers and mothers have been running from corner to corner under non-stop Israeli bombs and airstrikes, searching for milk, food and water.  Many of them never made it back or made it when it was too late.  She condemned Israel’s “starve or leave” policy, denying the entry of sufficient aid and killing aid workers.

Appreciating the Special Rapporteur for linking the right to food to man-made starvation — especially in the context of Gaza — South Africa’s delegate observed that people in the Strip have been plunged into extreme famine.  He condemned the use of contemporary methods of war — such as starvation — as well as the denial of food, water, shelter and medical care.

“As a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression, Lebanese people are enduring food insecurity more than ever,” said the country’s delegate, adding that agricultural land and trees have been burned in the south and farmland abandoned.  The ongoing crisis has affected 40,000 Lebanese farmers.

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