Böll.Global 18: Hunger as a weapon

After six months of war in Gaza, famine is imminent. The entire population of around 2.2 million people is affected. The United Nations warns that more than 677,000 residents are at immediate risk of starvation - more than anywhere else in the world. Due to the destruction of civilian infrastructure and access restrictions for humanitarian goods, Gaza lacks everything: food, clean water and medical supplies.

Immediately after Hamas' terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu's government completely sealed off the Gaza Strip. Gaza had been under a blockade since Hamas won the 2006 elections, which meant that up to 80% of the population was dependent on aid. All goods brought into Gaza are subject to strict control and approval by Israel. Whereas before October 7, around 500 trucks of humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip every day, today there are a maximum of 200 trucks per day, but there were also weeks when no aid at all was delivered. Production in the Gaza Strip has come to an almost complete standstill as a result of the war, and the need is greater than ever in view of the approximately 1.7 million internally displaced persons.

Despite vehement demands from the USA and the order of the International Court of Justice to improve supplies to the civilian population in Gaza, even fewer aid deliveries arrived in Gaza in February than in January of this year. In response, the US began airdropping food parcels into Gaza in March and building a temporary port. Germany is participating in the aid deliveries by air and sea. However, many international aid organizations consider these routes to be inefficient and ineffective and complain about the lack of protection for their staff in Gaza. Due to continued warfare and the collapse of public order, they are unable to provide sufficient supplies to those in need.

According to UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, the Israeli authorities have informed the UN on March 24, 2024 that they will not authorize any further UNRWA food convoys to the northern Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the Israeli army cites security concerns, denies that it is blocking aid deliveries and accuses Hamas of looting and selling them.

With our guests, we want to discuss the current humanitarian situation in Gaza and how the politicization of humanitarian aid can be counteracted. What are the impediments to providing the population of Gaza with sufficient food and water? That does international law say about the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war? What obligations does international humanitarian law impose on the warring parties with regard to supplying the civilian population? What responsibility do third countries such as Germany have in this context? What experiences have been made in other conflict contexts?

With:

• Luise Amtsberg, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance
• Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
• Shaina Low, Communications Adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council
• René Wildangel, Historian and Publicist

Moderated by: Layla Al-Zubaidi, Head of International Policy Divisions at Heinrich Böll Foundation

Contact
Louisa Reeh, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
E reeh@boell.de

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