IAPSS Press Team, Department of Public Relations – June 4, 2025
On March 2, 2025, the Israeli state imposed a blockade on all kinds of humanitarian aid and supplies directed to Gaza, while renewing its military offensive against Hamas, a radical Palestinian organization acting as one of the main authorities over Gaza and being directly responsible for the October 2022 raid launched on multiple Israeli settlements. This decision, justified and authorized by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as part of a strategy to undermine civilian support for Hamas and force it to comply with the quick release of the remaining hostages, has had terrible consequences in aggravating the humanitarian crisis experienced by the Palestinians living in Gaza. According to the last statement by the World Food Program in early April, the 25 bakeries established in the occupied territory to feed the thousands of people displaced by the Israeli offensive have been forced to shut down due to a shortage of flour and water, essential in the production of bread. Charity kitchens have also been affected due to the shortages related to the blockade and looting of the warehouses storing the food supplies by gangs. The UN has identified up to 10000 cases of malnutrition in children since January, and food scarcity has reached the point where babies born in the last month have already shown signs of advanced malnutrition, a situation very difficult to reverse. Hamas holds responsibility beyond its refusal to release the hostages, with its poor management of the food supplies, the high prices imposed on food in the face of scarcity, and the accusations of links with the looters by both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. (1) But given that Humanitarian Law holds the occupying state responsible for ensuring food security in the territories with the presence of its military forces, and that the Geneva Convention condemns the use of starvation as a direct war strategy, the Israeli State is also going against its responsibilities of protecting the civilian population of the territories its invaded. Reports about a solution to the food crisis through private companies from Israel have generated refusal from both the UN and aid agencies due to seeing this action as a means to politicize aid. The International Association for Political Science Students agrees with the international criticism directed at the use of Palestinian civilians as blackmail to force Hamas to comply with the demands of the Israeli state, just as it shares the criticism of Hamas’ poor management of the welfare of the Palestinians of Gaza. It is important, however, that public outrage quickly gives way to more resolute actions that pressure Netanyahu’s regime to stop the blockade on humanitarian aid and reaffirm that responsibilities with people from occupied territories apply to all members of the United Nations, including Western powers and their allies.
(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrv5rl73zdo
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L.M.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Livhuwani Mutheiwana, Press Officer at the International Association for Political Science Students (e: press@iapss.org).
Jorge Luis Barrera Vega, Press Officer at the International Association for Political Science Students (e: comms@iapss.org).
Leonardo Lucchesi, VP and Head of Public Relations at the International Association for Political Science Students (e: publicrelations@iapss.org)
