| Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, Aug. 16, 2025 (AP photo by Jehad Alshrafi). |
| “It is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment—and a failure of humanity itself.” |
| That was how United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reacted to the news today that parts of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, are suffering from famine, according to a global monitoring initiative. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a group of 21 organizations that monitor food security around the world, warned that without a surge of humanitarian relief, the famine would likely spread to other parts of the territory. |
| Tom Fletcher, the U.N.’s head of humanitarian affairs, said at a press conference that it was “a famine that we could have prevented, if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel.” Fletcher went on to plead with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Enough. Ceasefire. Open the crossings … It is too late for far too many. But not for everyone in Gaza.” |
| His words may not be enough to sway Netanyahu, who has repeatedly denied reports of widespread hunger and starvation in Gaza. On Thursday, Israel’s military began the first stage of a renewed offensive against Gaza City, despite reports from earlier in the week that Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. That deal calls for a 60-day halt to hostilities and the release of half of the 50 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza—20 of whom are believed to be alive. |
| Netanyahu was evidently not happy with it, insisting on the immediate release of all remaining hostages. The new military campaign against a starving population appears to be aimed at pressuring Hamas to concede. |
| As Fletcher pointed out in his remarks, the deliberate starvation of Palestinian civilians appears to be part of the pressure: The famine, he said, has been “openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war.” Indeed, just two weeks ago, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said “it may be just and moral” to starve 2 million residents in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. |
| Smotrich is often dismissed as a fringe, marginal figure—an extremist settler who is holding Netanyahu hostage by threatening to resign and collapse the government if an agreement is reached to end the war. |
| But it is also not clear that a different government would be taking a different tack. In March, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, widely seen as a contender to replace Netanyahu, questioned why, if there is starvation in Gaza, “fat Hamas terrorists” are still in charge. More recently, Bennett expressed concern about Israel’s falling standing in the United States, warning the country was increasingly viewed as a “pariah state.” As part of the solution, he called on Israel’s government to regain control of the narrative and “tell a new, different story.” But action—to alleviate the famine in Gaza by surging humanitarian aid—would speak far louder than any PR campaign. |