Despite the large number of rulings and certificates issued by the international courts and bodies regarding the crime of Israeli starvation of the residents of the Gaza Strip, the western positions biased to Israel, foremost of which is the American position, hinders its endowment, while the international deficit represented the third side of the triangle of crime that amounts to the level of genocide, according to certificates, including the lawsuit of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan.
This reality was a historical precedent, according to the statements of the Secretary -General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres in March 2024, which indicated that half of the residents of the sector were then facing hunger in a catastrophic manner, which is the highest hunger rate previously recorded anywhere and at any time, as a result of “a catastrophe that only humans made.”
The report of the Responsibility Committee, which was formed in 1919, after the First World War, was included in the “deliberate starvation of civilians” as a violation of the laws and norms of war that is subject to criminal prosecution, and since then it has become a rule of customary international law.
Starage is a war crime
The Basic Law of the International Criminal Court stipulates that “the use of civilization of civilians deliberately as a method of war” is a war crime in international armed conflicts.
This rule is the legal basis for the trial of the occupying state before the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice due to its crimes in the Gaza Strip, foremost of which is the crime of genocide through starvation.
The “starvation of civilians as a method of war” formed the first item of the charges against the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant, on which he requested on May 20, 2024 to arrest them.
The charges also included “extermination (and/ or) premeditated killing, including death caused by starvation as a crime against humanity,” noting that crimes against humanity that he was accused were committed in the context of a large -scale and methodological attack against the Palestinian civilian population in accordance with state policy.
Khan confirmed the availability of the “intention” corner in these crimes by saying, “My office pays that the evidence we collected, which included interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, visual materials, photographs and audible materials that have been validated, and pictures of satellites, and data made by the group that is claimed to commit crimes proving that Israel has deliberately depriving the civilian population in all regions of Gaza systematically that It is indispensable for their human survival. “
This happened by imposing a full siege on Gaza that included the complete closure of the three border crossings, which are Rafah, Karam Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun as of October 8, 2023 and for prolonged periods, then the arbitrary restriction to transport basic supplies, including food and medicine through border crossings after reopening.
The siege also included cutting the cross -border water pipelines to Gaza for a long time that started from October 9, 2023, which is the main source of clean water that the Gazans receive, and the occupation has cut electricity supplies and its prevention from that date until today.
This has occurred alongside other attacks against civilians, including attacks on those who lined up for food, disabled the delivery of humanitarian agencies to aid, and launched attacks on and killing relief workers, forcing many agencies to stop or restrict their work in Gaza.
Khan stressed that “these actions were committed within the framework of a joint plan to use starvation as a method of war and other violence against the civilian population in Gaza as a means (1) to get rid of Hamas, (2) and to ensure the return of the hostages that Hamas kidnapped, (3) and to bring the collective punishment of the civilian population in Gaza who saw them as a threat to Israel.”
International Criminal Court decision
Indeed, the first preliminary department in the International Criminal Court accepted on November 21, 2024, Karim Khan’s lawsuit, and the two stabbings filed from the occupying state refused, and issued two orders to arrest both Netanyahu and Gallent.
Its decision stipulated that it reached the existence of “reasonable reasons” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear the criminal responsibility for the crimes that were mentioned as participants for committing acts in conjunction with others: the crime of war represented in starvation as a method of war, crimes against humanity of killing, persecution and other inhumane acts.”
The department considered that there are reasonable reasons for the belief that both people deprived the civilian population in Gaza, with the knowledge of the materials that are indispensable for their survival, including food, water, medicine and medical materials in addition to fuel and electricity, based on their role in obstructing humanitarian aid.
She also indicated that the decisions that allowed humanitarian aid to enter Gaza or to increase them were often subject to conditions.
These decisions were not taken until Israel fulfilled its obligations under international humanitarian law or to ensure the provision of civilian population in Gaza appropriately with the goods they needed, but rather was in response to pressure from the international community or requests from the United States of America.
In any case, humanitarian aid increases were not sufficient to improve the population’s access to basic materials.
In addition, the department reached the existence of reasonable reasons for the belief that it was not possible to determine a clear military need or another justification under international humanitarian law for restrictions imposed on access to humanitarian relief operations.
Despite the warnings and invitations issued by parties – including the United Nations Security Council, the Secretary -General of the United Nations, states, governmental organizations and civil society organizations on the humanitarian situation in Gaza – it was only allowed to have a small freshness of humanitarian aid.
In this regard, the department took into account the long period of deprivation and the statement of Netanyahu, which linked the stopping of basic commodities and aid to the goals of the war.
The ICC is slowing down
The first preliminary department in the International Criminal Court reached reasonable reasons for the belief that the absence of food, water, electricity, fuel and certain medical materials created living conditions with the intention of destroying part of the civilian population in Gaza, which led to the death of civilians – including children – due to malnutrition and dehydration.
But, on the basis of the substances made by the claim that included the period from May 20, 2024, it was unable to find out all the pillars of the genocide as a crime against humanity, and despite that, it came to the existence of reasonable reasons for the belief that the crime against humanity represented in the killing was committed to these victims.
The Guardian of Crime Staff to the International Criminal Court indicates the necessity of providing 4 elements to prove the crime of starvation as a method of war, which is that the perpetrator of the crime deprives civilians of indispensable materials for their survival, that the perpetrator intends to starve civilians as a method of war, and that behavior takes place in the context of an international armed conflict, and that the perpetrator of the crime be aware of the circumstances that prove an armed conflict.
In a parallel context, the lawsuit submitted by the State of South Africa before the International Court of Justice regarding the involvement of the occupation state is witnessing crimes that amount to the level of genocide, slowing down, which limits its effectiveness, and makes any subsequent decisions that have weak impact, as it will be after the peak of its need for most of them.
The last delay stations was the acceptance of the court on April 14, 2025, the occupation state requested the extension of the deadline for submitting its counter -note until January 28, 2026, despite South Africa asserting that Israel has not provided a sufficient justification for such an extension.
This extension means that Israel will not be subject to any major new consequences in legal or diplomacy before 2026 or perhaps 2027.
American protection for crime
The United States launched a diplomatic, media and judicial campaign against the United Nations institutions that oppose Israeli crimes, and are not consistent with Netanyahu’s policies seeking to liquidate the Palestinian issue and displace the population of Gaza, including both the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, UNRWA and many senior United Nations officials.
The order of US President Donald Trump to issue an executive order in February 2025 is an effort by the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli crimes “an extraordinary and exceptional threat to national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
Accordingly, Trump declared a “national emergency to address this threat,” which permits the imposition of financial sanctions and travel restrictions on individuals and organizations that cooperate with the Criminal Court to investigate cases related to the United States or its allies.
Indeed, the United States imposed on June 6, 2025 sanctions on 4 judges in the International Criminal Court against the backdrop of cases related to Washington and Israel, including the ban on their entry into the United States, and the freezing of any money or assets they have.
American pressure also contributed to the resignation of a court judge in July 2025, the British judge Andrew Kylie in charge of American lawyer Brenda Holis in leading investigations into Israel’s violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
It is not possible to exclude the role of American pressure in the decision of the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, on May 16, 2025, to dedicate temporarily to his duties, pending the completion of an external investigation into allegations related to sexual misconduct.
In conclusion, while international institutions warn of an unprecedented crime of starvation in modern history, the unprecedented American covering of these crimes pushes their prolongation with the aim of achieving the joint American -Israeli goals on the liquidation of the Palestinian issue, even if it is necessary to undermine the foundations of the “international system based on rules”, which international judicial institutions are one of its basic pillars.
