Siege and Starvation: How Israel Obstructs Aid to Gaza

Cooked food being served to some starving Gazans. Refugees International

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. 

Recommendations

To Warring Parties:

• Immediately agree to a mutual ceasefire and release all hostages.

• Adhere to international humanitarian law and refrain from any action that threatens the rights, safety, and dignity of both Palestinian and Israeli civilians. 

• Cease all attacks on civilian infrastructure and allow UN and aid agencies access to populations-in-need.

To the Government of Israel:

• Fully comply with the ICJ provisional measures.

• End siege tactics, restore services, and guarantee humanitarian access for aid delivery to all parts of Gaza.

• Establish clear, effective, and transparent deconfliction for aid delivery and humanitarian personnel in Gaza for the duration of hostilities.

• Open all border crossings for aid and essential commercial access, including expanding permissions at Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings.

• Remove restrictions on items essential for humanitarian aid (including medical equipment, water filters, solar-powered medical storage units, and tents) and hand over inspection responsibility to a neutral party, following past precedents from Syria and Yemen. 

• Refrain from a military offensive in Rafah, and other actions that could displace Palestinians further or otherwise worsen the humanitarian crisis.

To the United States Federal Government:

• President Biden should express public support for a permanent mutual ceasefire and the immediate release of all hostages.

• The Biden administration should elevate famine prevention as a central focus of its Gaza policy and prepare plans to address starvation risks through improved access and increased UN support. This must include lifting the freeze on funding to UNRWA. 

• Given the widespread indications of systematic Israeli violations of International Humanitarian Law (which even the President has characterized as “indiscriminate” and “over the top”), the Biden administration should pause further offensive security assistance to Israel pending a thorough review of the credibility of Israel’s adherence to IHL, as mandated by NSM-20. 

• The departments of State and Defense should actively canvas input from the humanitarian community active in Gaza when preparing their 90-day NSM-20 report to Congress.

To U.S. Members of Congress

• Urge the Biden administration to quickly address Gaza’s food crisis to prevent famine. Congress should increase funding for aid agencies, including UNRWA, to resource the emergency response in Gaza. 

• Conduct oversight hearings to assess Israel’s adherence to International Humanitarian Law.

To the Government of Egypt:

• Strengthen UN agencies’ operations in Northern Sinai by allowing more UN and humanitarian personnel to deploy to Al-Arish.

• Establish a UN operational center at the Rafah Crossing to manage truck crossings, including representatives from UNRWA and other key UN organizations. This center should coordinate with Egypt’s government task force in Arish to streamline aid and personnel movement to and from Gaza.

To the United Nations: 

• Fully resource the office of the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator (SHRC) for Gaza and use mandated briefings to the UN Security Council to provide public updates on the status of humanitarian aid and access.

- Refugees International