Siege and Starvation: How Israel Obstructs Aid to Gaza
Palestinians line up for food in Rafah, Gaza Strip, 23 February 2024
The Executive Summary of the Refugees International report Siege and Starvation:
The brutal October 7 Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,000 Israelis prompted a massive military response intended to root out Hamas in Gaza. The conduct of Israel’s ensuing military response has wrought disproportionate death and suffering among civilians in Gaza, generating famine-like conditions while obstructing and undermining the humanitarian response.
Despite its claims to be facilitating humanitarian aid, research and analysis by Refugees International shows that Israeli conduct has consistently and groundlessly impeded aid operations within Gaza, blocked legitimate relief operations, and resisted implementing measures that would genuinely enhance the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
A Refugees International team traveled to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel in January 2024 where they interviewed key stakeholders in the aid response, displaced people inside Gaza, and people who had recently fled the conflict. Our research makes clear that conditions inside of Gaza are apocalyptic. After five months of war, Palestinians are struggling to find adequate food, water, shelter, and basic medicine. Famine-level hunger is already widespread and worsening.
Israeli policies and conduct are causing a man-made humanitarian crisis. Refugees International found routine and arbitrary denial of legitimate humanitarian goods from entering Gaza; a highly complicated Israeli inspection and approval process without clear or consistent instructions; frequent denials of humanitarian movements within Gaza; clear indications that Israel has failed to establish functional humanitarian deconfliction; and persistent attacks on Gaza’s humanitarian, health, food, power, and other critical infrastructure that have simultaneously debilitated the aid effort and escalated needs.
Israel’s conduct of its attacks in Gaza calls into question its adherence to International Humanitarian Law (IHL), as well as both the propriety and legality of the United States continuing to supply it with arms. Now, two new mechanisms are forcing a closer look at the Israeli government’s conduct. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued legally binding provisional measures ordering Israel to facilitate the flow of aid and lessen humanitarian suffering in Gaza. In February, the Biden administration further issued a National Security Memorandum (NSM-20) requiring assurances that countries receiving U.S. security assistance will actively facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, or risk suspension of U.S. security aid. While Israel was not specifically mentioned in NSM-20, it is required to comply with its terms.
The ICJ case and NSM-20 both define clear expectations for Israel’s conduct with regards to facilitating humanitarian action in Gaza. But Refugees International’s analysis finds that Israel is demonstrably failing to comply with both the ICJ provisional measures and the terms of NSM-20 as they relate to the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We issue the following urgent recommendations on the steps the parties to the conflict, aid agencies, and key member states should take to rectify the situation.