Press Release: Veritas Press C.I.C.
Author: Kamran Faqir
Article Date Published: 24 Aug 2025 at 10:50 GMT
Category: Middle East | Palestine-Gaza | US-Israel At War
Source(s): Veritas Press C.I.C. | Multi News Agencies
Gaza City — In the 24 hours spanning Friday–Saturday, Israeli strikes and shelling killed dozens across the Strip as famine was formally declared in Gaza by the UN-backed IPC system. Doctors describe skeletal children and shrapnel-wounded patients too malnourished to heal; eyewitnesses accuse armed contractors at Israel/US-backed aid hubs of shooting at hungry crowds; and a new Israeli media investigation alleges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu torpedoed seven ceasefire arrangements.
“All famine thresholds have now been surpassed,” the IPC declaration confirms, warning that over half a million people face Catastrophe (IPC 5), with spread likely without a ceasefire and large-scale access.
Hospitals: “We Are Treating Gunshot Wounds And Hunger At The Same Time”
Front-line clinicians say wards are packed with blast injuries and starvation.
- A Gaza medical team quoted by AP: “Patients’ ribs are protruding…children too weak to recover.” A U.S. surgeon assisting in Gaza described a teen shot while collecting food, arriving emaciated. AP tallies malnutrition deaths at 281 and “one in six” under-fives acutely malnourished, citing MedGlobal.
- WHO now says 15,600+ people, including 3,800 children, need urgent medical evacuation to survive. “Every delay costs lives,” WHO officials warn.
On Saturday, staff at al-Shifa Medical Complex reported fresh artillery casualties south of Gaza City amid an intensified bombardment, part of a broader push that Israeli leaders frame as a prelude to an urban takeover. Israeli armour and aircraft also hit Zeitoun, including a school and a mosque used as shelter, according to field medics and local reporters.
Aid, Or A “Militarised” Trap? Shooting At Queues And The Rise Of GHF
Multiple investigations allege that since May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private distribution mechanism set up with Israeli authorisation and U.S. backing, has been associated with militarised aid lines and repeated shootings at civilians.
- UN human rights experts urged the immediate dismantling of GHF, created “with US support,” warning its model undermines impartial UN relief and puts civilians at risk.
- PBS reported Israeli fire killing aid-seekers near GHF sites; CBS aired testimony alleging American subcontractors at those sites fired at Palestinians. One witness: “They opened fire as the crowd surged.”
- A GHF whistleblower told Al Jazeera a boy who had walked 12km for a small ration was fatally shot minutes after leaving the site.
Meanwhile, UNRWA says the blockade, and its exclusion from Gaza operations, is starving people despite abundant stocks nearby:
“Our warehouses in Egypt and Jordan are full…enough to fill 6,000 trucks,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said, urging Israel to let UN-led convoys roll.
Policy By Siege: Famine As A Man-Made Disaster
Aid agencies and analysts describe the hunger as policy-driven, not incidental.
- The Guardian analysis of the IPC ruling: erratic permits, reliance on disputed private channels, and restrictions have “weaponised” aid and produced a preventable famine.
- Al Jazeera’s Saturday tally: at least 63 killed in new strikes; eight more died of starvation within 24 hours of the famine declaration.
- A joint Guardian / +972 Magazine / Local Call investigation into an Israeli military database found 83% of those killed are civilians, deepening legal concerns over proportionality and intent.
“Gaza City Could Be Destroyed”: Israeli Leadership Signals Escalation
Israel’s newly appointed Defence Minister Israel Katz, threatens an all-out assault unless Hamas surrenders and disarms:
“Gaza City could be destroyed if Hamas doesn’t accept our terms,” Katz warned; PM Netanyahu has green-lit plans to seize Gaza City.
U.S. President Donald Trump has amplified the push, arguing a rapid assault might be “safer” for hostages:
“I actually think [the hostages are] safer… if you went in fast and you did it,” he told reporters.
The Ceasefires That Didn’t Happen:
A bombshell report from Israel’s Channel 13 (HaMoker), summarised by Middle East Eye and noted in the Times of Israel, alleges Netanyahu blocked seven ceasefire deals even as mediators narrowed gaps. A senior U.S. official quoted by ToI said calling him out earlier “would’ve helped Hamas,” effectively acknowledging obstruction while defending Washington’s silence.
Implication: If true, civilian deaths and starvation attributable to the continuation of hostilities, after workable pauses were available, raise grave legal exposure under the laws of war (duty to facilitate humanitarian access; prohibition on starvation of civilians as a method of warfare).
Children’s Futures Erased: “A Third Year Without School”
UNRWA warns Gaza’s children now face a third consecutive school year without classrooms, teachers, or safe buildings. The educational collapse compounds trauma and malnutrition, creating a cohort with stunted growth and learning loss.
Accountability Questions: Starvation, Civilian Targeting, And Private Militias.
- Starvation: The IPC declaration and WHO data, alongside documented obstruction of UN-led convoys, satisfy core indicators of the war crime of starvation, experts argue. (See IPC/WHO findings and UNRWA statements.)
- Civilian harm: The 83% civilian casualty figure from Israeli data, if accurate, undercuts official narratives and buttresses calls for international investigations.
- GHF model: UN experts’ call to dismantle GHF and reports of contractor gunfire at aid lines point to outsourced coercion that blurs accountability and may violate obligations of an occupying power to ensure safe, impartial relief.
Voices From The Ground:
- Dr. Ahmed Basal, paediatric clinician, on hunger cases: “We’re seeing kwashiorkor-like oedema and wasting in toddlers, with infections they can’t fight.” (Image note and WHO-linked reporting.)
- UNRWA’s Lazzarini: “The aid exists. What’s missing is access.”
- Eyewitness at a GHF site (to CBS): “They were just trying to get flour. Then the shots started.”
- Israeli Defence Minister Katz (to AP/ABC): “Gaza City could be destroyed” unless Hamas yields.
- President Trump (to reporters): “Hostages [are] safer… if you went in fast.”
What To Watch Next (Indicators):
- Urban takeover timeline: Israeli media signal a mid-September Gaza City operation; mass evacuation orders likely. Monitor for denial-of-aid patterns during operations.
- Ceasefire files: Will HaMoker’s reporting prompt Knesset or judicial scrutiny, or U.S. congressional inquiry, into negotiation sabotage?
- Famine spread: IPC warns assessment in North Gaza is blocked, but could be worse than in Gaza City. Access for survey teams is a humanitarian bellwether.
In Summary: Accountability & Legal Ramifications: From Siege Tactics To War Crimes.
International law is explicit: starving civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime. Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute criminalises “intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival.” The current conditions in Gaza, systematic obstruction of UN convoys, forced reliance on controversial private aid systems, and the IPC’s famine declaration, meet every threshold for investigation.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has already issued provisional measures in January and March ordering Israel to “ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance” and to prevent acts of genocide, including by avoiding conditions of life calculated to destroy a population.” Israel’s intensifying siege, coupled with statements by its senior officials advocating total destruction of Gaza City, directly contradict these orders.
Legal Experts Speak Out:
- Dr. Craig Mokhiber, former UN human rights director: “This is a textbook case of starvation as a weapon. It is deliberate, it is systematic, and it is criminal under international law.”
- Professor Michael Lynk, former UN Special Rapporteur: “The intentional blocking of aid and the outsourcing of distribution to entities accused of lethal misconduct cannot be explained as negligence. This is policy.”
- Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both stated that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, citing the deprivation of essential goods alongside mass civilian killings and inflammatory rhetoric from Israeli officials.
The U.S. Role:
Washington’s endorsement of an accelerated ground invasion, its provision of weapons under Foreign Military Financing, and its reported coordination with GHF operations raise serious questions about complicity. Under Article 16 of the Articles on State Responsibility, states that knowingly aid or assist another state in the commission of an internationally wrongful act share liability.
Impunity Or Precedent?
Failure to prosecute will set a precedent that weaponising hunger is permissible in modern warfare. It will also hollow out the ICJ’s authority, leaving international humanitarian law as a rhetorical tool rather than an enforceable standard.
Reinforced Conclusion: The Architecture of Intent
The famine in Gaza is not collateral damage; it is designed suffering. A siege that blocks UNRWA’s 6,000 truckloads of food, replaces impartial aid channels with a militarised contractor network, and leaves children dying in queues under fire cannot be explained away as an operational mishap. It is a strategy.
When Netanyahu’s government sabotages seven ceasefire tracks while senior ministers speak of obliterating Gaza City, the through-line is clear: this is a policy of absolute domination through destruction, leveraging starvation and terror as tools of war.
The question before the world is no longer whether international law has been broken; it has. The question is whether the guardians of that law will enforce it or allow Gaza to stand as the graveyard of accountability.
If the ICC and ICJ fail to act, and if Washington and European capitals continue to underwrite this siege, then famine as a weapon will become the new normal. Gaza will not only be a humanitarian catastrophe; it will be a legal and moral turning point for the 21st century.
Tags:
Leave a Reply