Joint Press Statement

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), and the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) urgently warn of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian and health conditions in the Gaza Strip. The famine has now entered a new and critical stage, posing an imminent threat of mass death, unless the international community intervenes without delay.

The ongoing silence in the face of this deliberate starvation policy constitutes complicity. Saving lives in Gaza is no longer a matter of solidarity—it is a legal and moral imperative. The systematic starvation imposed by Israeli authorities against over 2 million Palestinians reflects a deliberate and coordinated policy known as “famine engineering”—the use of hunger as a weapon of war, political pressure, and control.

According to field reports and data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), Gaza has now entered Phase 5 (Catastrophe/Famine)—the most severe level—where all survival mechanisms collapse. Deaths from hunger and malnutrition are accelerating, amidst near-total deprivation of food, water, and medicine. At least 111 Palestinians, including 76 children, have died from hunger and malnutrition, while 1,021 others have been killed attempting to access food or aid. Over 6,500 people have been injured under similar circumstances.

This starvation is no longer limited to children, pregnant women, and the elderly—it now extends to working-age adults, including health workers, civil defense personnel, and journalists, broadening the scope of the crisis.

This catastrophic reality is a direct result of deliberate Israeli policies, including the complete closure of border crossings since March 2, 2025, obstruction of aid entry, repeated attacks on humanitarian workers and distribution centers, and support for looting and "organized chaos" that endangers civilians. These actions continue despite binding decisions by both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) obligating Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid and protect civilians.

Such ongoing violations represent a grave challenge to international justice and place the international community under an urgent legal and ethical test. A year after the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the illegality of the occupation and in the wake of the genocide case filed by South Africa, Israel continues to defy international law—empowered by deadly complicity and the international community’s inaction.

The failure of the UN Security Council, the UN system, and High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to act meaningfully represents a profound dereliction of the duty to protect civilians.

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In light of the above, we call on the international community to take the following urgent actions:

• Pressure Israel to immediately and unconditionally open all border crossings to ensure the safe and sustained flow of life-saving humanitarian aid—including food, water, medicine, and fuel—under UN and trusted local/international oversight.
• Urge the Egyptian government to fulfill its legal and humanitarian responsibilities by keeping the Rafah crossing open permanently, facilitating the entry of patients and aid, and exerting diplomatic pressure on Israel to lift the siege immediately.
• Call on Arab and Islamic states to implement resolutions of recent Arab and Islamic summits by taking immediate, coordinated action to break the siege and deliver aid—through diplomatic pressure, financial, medical, and logistical support, and participation in international accountability efforts.
• Establish an independent international investigation into the use of starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza, and refer those responsible to the International Criminal Court, urging the Prosecutor to expand current investigations into war crimes and genocide.
• Activate all international accountability mechanisms, including legal and diplomatic pressure, individual sanctions, and universal jurisdiction, against Israeli officials involved in the starvation and systematic targeting of civilians.
• Immediately end the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Mechanism”, which has become a death trap for starving civilians. Replace it with a transparent, internationally supervised aid mechanism that ensures safe and equitable distribution of assistance.
• Call on civil society organizations and national human rights institutions worldwide to pressure their governments to take principled positions, launch global solidarity campaigns, document violations, and highlight starvation as a grave breach of international law.
• Hold the international community and the United Nations accountable for their failure to prevent famine and protect civilians. Invoke and implement the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) without delay, treating it as a binding legal and moral obligation, not a political option.

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The famine in Gaza is a man-made, preventable atrocity. The time for statements has passed—immediate action is needed to save lives and restore dignity. History will not be kind to those who chose silence.