Starvation strategy: How Israel created famine in Gaza

According to a recent investigation (PDF) by the Forensic Architecture (FA) research team, the Israeli military has deliberately pushed Gaza toward famine by using a deliberate strategy of starvation.
The report details how Israel has weaponised aid, forcing Palestinians to travel long distances to reach military-run distribution centres in the south of the Strip, while opening fire on those same civilians as they seek aid.

Researchers found that Israeli-backed gangs systematically looted civilians, destroyed infrastructure like food warehouses, and reported on civilian casualties.

Each incident was geolocated and verified between March 18 and August 1, 2025, giving a detailed account of how aid is being used to kill Palestinians rather than save them.

Aid distribution: Civilian vs military

Israel has reformed Gaza’s notorious civilian aid system in an effort to advance Israeli military and political objectives while dictating and starving the populace.

In accordance with humanitarian guidelines, aid continued to reach Gaza through UNRWA, international NGOs, and community networks up until early 2025. In January, Israel banned UNRWA, and by March, it had halted the entry of aid entirely.

No aid was allowed in for nearly three months, and when Israel finally lifted the blockade in late May due to international pressure, the amounts allowed remained significantly below what was required.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by the US and Israel, replaced the civilian system, leading to a system of dependency that some observers call “deadly by design” in place of limited rations distributed through military-controlled stations.

400 aid sites replaced with four

The GHF, which is manned by armed private security contractors, has set up only four “mega-sites” for Gaza’s estimated two million residents, compared to the previous UN-led distribution network, which ran about 400 sites across the country.

The GHF and its model, according to the UN and aid organizations, weaponize aid and focus it on the south, putting pressure on residents of northern Gaza to flee, which they claim could cause the Israeli military’s plan to depopulate the north.

How ration stations run by the military operate

Palestinians are only given a limited, largely dry food supply through the GHF aid system, which requires them to travel long distances and enter Israeli-controlled military installations.

Three stations lie between Rafah and Khan Younis, and a fourth south of the Netzarim Corridor, all are inside areas officially designated as active combat zones.

With little advance notice, the stations only briefly close, frequently for a few minutes. To avoid missing distributions, families often relocate closer to them. People are funnelled through narrow, tightly guarded corridors that resemble cattle chutes.

Without water, shelter, sanitation, or medical care, the stations only offer food. The rations are extremely limited and mostly consist of dry staples. They typically don’t have the essentials for proper meal preparation, such as water, cooking oil, or other perishable foods, and protein sources like meat, fruits, or vegetables.

Crucially, visiting these locations puts people in grave danger. Reports indicate Israeli forces and contractors have repeatedly used live ammunition to control crowds, killing hundreds of Palestinians. Lethal force has become a commonplace among soldiers because they are not trained in crowd management. The militarized GHF system continues to endanger lives while destroying Gaza’s social fabric, as civilians have been targeted even during ceasefires.

Killing aid seekers

What Human Rights Watch refers to as “regular bloodbaths” as a result of Israel’s new aid distribution.

FA claims that the GHF’s distribution system causes numerous casualty incidents almost daily at or close to the four GHF sites.

More than 1, 300 people have been killed while trying to obtain aid at GHF sites since May 27. 729 people died in July alone.

In their findings, Forensic Architecture noted that between the period of March 18 to August 1, there were at least:

• 25 were carried out while requesting aid while in the vicinity of GHF stations, 19 were in close proximity to aid routes, and 7 were during aid diversions.
• Nine police and human resources incidents.
• 23 incidents of aid infrastructure being attacked, including warehouses, distribution points, communal kitchens, cafeterias, bakeries, etc.
• 37 instances of desperate civilians, gangs, and Israeli-backed organizations distributing aid.
• 58 Palestinians in Gaza were given forced evacuation orders.
• Six kilometres (3.7 miles) distance, on average, for Palestinians to walk to arrive at a GHF ration station.

Israel’s starvation-based rationing

Since Hamas assumed control of Gaza in 2007, Israel has strict restrictions on all goods entering the area. This includes reducing the quantity of food per person to the minimum calories necessary for survival. The amount of electricity that is now barely needed for living has been eliminated. In response, the UN issued a warning that Gaza was in danger of becoming “unliveable” as a result of deteriorating circumstances in 2018.

Targeting agricultural and food infrastructure

International humanitarian organizations and local authorities were used to distribute aid through hundreds of aid kitchens and centers in the civilian aid distribution model. That system has been repeatedly wiped out since October 7 with the most significant agricultural land loss in Gaza.

Gangs stealing aid

According to FA, there were rumors that Israel was arming gangs and militias in Rafah in June. These aid trucks have been seize, according to FA satellite imagery and verified videos. Social media accounts linked to the Abu Shabab group and analyses by FA between May 25 and 29 show the group taking control of aid trucks entering the Karam Abu Salem crossing. According to UN officials, this looting has taken place close to Israeli military installations, making an allusion to Israel’s complicity or indifference.

Aid organizations are frequently shut down.

Between May 29 and July 4, an FA analysis of 160 announcements from GHF ration stations found that Palestinians often had to walk between 2.5 and 10   km (1.6–6.2   miles) from shelters to reach aid. Less than an hour before the station’s opening, approximately 60% of announcements were posted on Facebook, and after that, less than 10 minutes. Access was extremely difficult in 23 percent of cases because closures were made known prior to the originally scheduled opening time.

Airdrops ineffective

After receiving international criticism for Israel’s starvation tactics, airdropping aid has become a method of providing food to Gaza. In contrast to truck deliveries, these drops have been minor. Packages often land in inaccessible areas, forcing people to take risks, such as jumping over walls to get aid. Airdrops are particularly dangerous in “no-go” zones, which cover nearly 90% of Gaza, and in densely populated areas where injuries can occur. On August 4, a nurse was killed when an aid box fell onto her.

The result of weaponising aid

FA has discovered that Israel’s use of aid has resulted in three main outcomes: the forced displacement of Palestinians through ration station locations, making aid difficult to reach, and compromising Gaza’s civil society.

forced displacement in the south

The intentional location of four GHF sites, with three in Rafah, has led to Palestinians moving from their areas of residence towards these stations. This is in line with Israel’s plans to orient Gaza’s population toward Egypt.

Evidence collected by FA, as well as other organisations, show that these coercive measures are designed to make returning home impossible. Israel has issued 58 forced evacuation threats covering 80% of Gaza since March. The number of tents in the al-Mawasi region and close to GHF ration stations has increased as a result of the establishment of aid distribution centers.

Making aid difficult to access

Palestinians must choose between risking their lives to obtain the bare minimum of food supplies and abstaining from deadly journeys. FA has stated that GHF sites, where contractors have used live ammunition and stun grenades on crowds, are deadly by design. Reaching GHF sites has been described as “a death sentence,” according to those who seek aid.

There have been numerous instances of aid seekers being shot and killed, with doctors confirming that the injuries that were the result of a gunshot wound were the same as those received in other instances. British surgeon Dr Nick Maynard, working in Gaza, described a pattern of gunshot injuries to the groins of boys between 12-15 who had gone to GHF sites.

stumbling down the civil order

The Israeli military’s policy, restrictions on aid entry, and targeted aid workers have caused the Gaza civil order to fall apart. From January 2023 to July 2025, 924 aid workers were killed worldwide, 56 perent in Gaza. In addition to the extreme hunger Palestinians are experiencing, Israeli-backed gangs like Abu Shabab, who have looted aid in controlled areas, and these factors are causing social unrest.

Gaza declared a famine

On August 22, a UN-backed monitor declared famine is occurring in the northern Gaza Strip and is projected to spread to central and southern areas by the end of September.

The worst cases of hunger occur when there are severe food shortages, widespread malnourishment, and extreme starvation.

Because Israel has nearly destroyed all of its medical facilities and the enclave’s access is severely restricted, it is difficult to assess the situation in Gaza. According to IPC, famine is when:

• Extreme food shortages are present in at least 20% of households.
• More than 30% of the population is affected by acute malnutrition.
• Death rate exceeds two deaths per 10, 000 people per day.

At least 303 people, including 117 children, were among the known 303 people who had been starved to death as of August 26.

Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Amnesty International, and the Norwegian Refugee Council are just a few of the 100 aid organizations that have condemned Israel’s use of force, accusing it of preventing lifesaving aid from entering Gaza.

More than a third of those who have died from starvation were children. They are especially vulnerable because of the rapid harm their growing bodies and vital organs receive from hunger. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from pregnancy to two years old, are crucial for their development.

Malnutrition during this period can cause irreversible damage, stunting both physical growth and cognitive ability. Many children are at a high risk of dying without prompt medical care.

Source: Aljazeera