Deir al-Balah airstrike highlights Israel’s policy of starving and targeting Gaza civilians seeking food

Palestinian casualties lie on the floor after being brought into Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an Israeli strike, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, 10 July 2025

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor writes on 10 July 2025:

The horrific Israeli airstrike on Thursday morning, 10 July, targeting civilians in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, reflects a systematic policy of weaponising starvation and killing civilians as they seek food. This crime is a clear violation of international humanitarian law and a direct consequence of international silence, which has effectively enabled the perpetrators.

At approximately 7:15 a.m., an Israeli drone targeted a group of civilians waiting in line for food aid and children’s supplements outside the headquarters of Human Appeal, near the al-Tayaran crossroad in northern Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The strike killed 15 people, including 10 children and 3 women, and injured around 35 others, most of them children. Medical sources expect the death toll to rise due to several critical injuries among the children.

Euro-Med Monitor’s preliminary field investigation confirms that the targeted site was not only a food aid distribution centre, but also hosted several humanitarian and medical facilities, including World Food Programme warehouses, a medical point, and an orphanage named Friends Without Borders. Dozens of civilians, mostly women and children, had gathered at the site since early morning, hoping to secure food amid the total collapse of food security in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army possesses advanced surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, along with highly sophisticated and precise targeting systems, leaving no doubt that the airstrike, which killed a large number of women and children, was intentional, direct, and premeditated. The use of precision-guided munitions to maximise civilian casualties reflects a deliberate act fully consistent with the ongoing genocide committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip for over 21 months.

With similar crimes recurring and no meaningful international response, the Israeli army has largely stopped issuing statements about its attacks on civilians, facing no pressure of legal action, accountability, protest, or even basic inquiries from relevant states and organisations.

The attack on civilians in Deir al-Balah is a clear example of Israeli strikes deliberately targeting civilians, particularly women and children, in blatant violation of international human rights conventions and humanitarian law. It is part of a recurring and systematic pattern of Israeli targeting of aid distribution centres and humanitarian gatherings. In less than two months, Euro-Med Monitor documented the killing of over 850 Palestinians while attempting to access food, whether in queues at distribution points imposed by Israel under the so-called “field coordination system,” near aid trucks, in markets, or even at local soup kitchens set up by residents in an attempt to survive.

The international community bears responsibility for enabling the continuation and escalation of Israel’s systematic crimes against starving civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The failure of influential states to take effective deterrent measures or exert real pressure to stop these crimes, including the continued use of Israel’s inhumane aid distribution mechanism, has provided political and practical cover for turning these centres into sites of mass killing. It has also encouraged similar acts elsewhere and allowed practices that violate the most basic rights of Palestinians and undermine their human dignity.

The deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians as they seek food, along with the use of starvation as a weapon, is a clear violation of international humanitarian and criminal law. These acts constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute, including wilful killing, targeting civilians, and using starvation as a method of warfare, all of which are strictly prohibited in armed conflicts.

The widespread and systematic nature of these violations against the civilian population fulfils the elements of crimes against humanity, particularly killing, persecution, and inhumane acts causing severe suffering or serious physical or mental harm, when committed as part of a systematic attack targeting civilians.

Placing these crimes in their broader context, including the systematic destruction of means of survival, the denial of aid access, and the imposition of deadly living conditions on the civilian population, along with public incitement by Israeli political and military figures, reveals a clear and deliberate intent to destroy the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. According to Article II of the Genocide Convention, these acts constitute genocide, specifically through the intentional killing of members of the group and the imposition of living conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part.

Relevant states and entities must apply all possible pressure on Israel to stop the killing of starving civilians, end its inhumane aid distribution mechanism, immediately restore humanitarian access, and lift the illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip. This is the only way to stop the accelerating humanitarian deterioration and ensure the entry of aid, given the imminent threat of famine.

The establishment of safe humanitarian corridors under UN supervision is vital to ensure the delivery of food, medicine, and fuel to all areas of the Strip, with independent international monitors deployed to verify compliance.

All states, both individually and collectively, must fulfil their legal responsibilities by taking urgent action to stop the genocide in the Gaza Strip, through implementing effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians; ensuring Israel’s compliance with international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice; and holding Israel accountable for all crimes against the Palestinians in the Strip.

The international community must impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel for such grave violations of international law. These sanctions should include arms embargoes; a ban on the export and import of parts, software, and dual-use goods; an end to all political, financial, and military support; freezing the assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians and imposing travel bans on these officials; suspending the operations of Israeli military and security companies in international markets and freezing their assets; and suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements that provide Israel with economic benefits that enable its continued crimes against the Palestinian people.

Countries with universal jurisdiction courts must issue arrest warrants for Israeli political and military leaders involved in the ongoing genocide and initiate legal proceedings to fulfil their international legal obligation to prosecute serious crimes and combat impunity. They must also hold accountable their citizens found to have committed violations against Palestinians, in line with their national and international legal obligations and within their territorial or personal jurisdiction.

Furthermore, the International Criminal Court (ICC) must expedite its investigations and issue arrest warrants for every Israeli official involved in international crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. These crimes must be formally recognised and treated as acts of genocide. States Parties to the Rome Statute are reminded of their legal obligation to fully cooperate with the Court, ensure the implementation of the arrest warrants, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

This article is reproduced in its entirety