The Law Blog

Shivani Tripathi is a PhD candidate at Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University.

Since 2023, Gaza City has been facing a humanitarian crisis due to the ongoing conflict with Israel, which has led to the most severe violations of children’s rights documented in recent history. Other than bombs and missiles, children’s lives in Gaza are suffering from a lack of food. According to a study by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), as of mid-August 2025, an estimated 54,600 children under five years of age are acutely malnourished, with approximately 12,800 suffering from fatal severe acute malnutrition and is estimated that by June 2026, around 132, 000 children will be suffering from acute malnutrition.

The severity of the problem can be adjudged from the fact that, since the conflict began, more than 100 children have tragically died from famine and malnutrition-related causes. As much as 98.5 percent of agriculture is destroyed, contributing to an acute food shortage. The food available is overly priced, making it inaccessible to the people and this raises the phenomenon of ‘food poverty’. Israel has been using starvation as a method of warfare, and the destruction of essential infrastructure aggravated by obstruction in humanitarian aid has created a famine characterized by mass hunger and malnutrition. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed famine conditions in the Gaza Governorate in August 2025 for the first time in the Middle East region. This action of indirect killing of civilians falls under the definition of genocide.

The catastrophic effect on children

Children are uniquely vulnerable and face higher mortality rates in war and conflict situations. Children in war-torn Gaza City are receiving one meal a day or no food at all. The impact of such hunger and malnutrition in early childhood causes stunted growth, cognitive deficits, developmental delays, and compromised immune functions that even persist into adulthood. Some impact of famine can never be undone- the physical harm and mental trauma faced by children will be unforgettable for them. The absence of essential nutrition in food puts the entire generation at risk, and the tenacious starvation and malnourishment have pushed thousands of children in Gaza to the brink of death. The frequent airstrikes and attacks have forced the children to be displaced from their homes. Similarly, 55,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women are estimated to be suffering from high levels of malnutrition by June 2026, as a result of which, underweight and malnourished babies are born and raised.

Why is this human rights and international law problem?

The malnutrition crisis constitutes systematic violations of the children’s human rights framework. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (CRC) is the most important document on children’s rights, and Article 24 and Article 27 mention that children have the right to adequate food, nutrition, and health, and obliges parents and state parties to provide for the child’s development, specifically states providing material assistance for the child’s nutrition. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is the monitoring body that observes compliance to the Convention, and it has vehemently criticized the mass starvation of children amid the blocking of aid in Gaza and unequivocally stated that the right to food is a fundamental human right that is intrinsically linked to the right to life and has called for insistence on ensuring food security. Also, Target 2.2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals casts a duty on the member states to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030, and end stunting and wasting among children under 5 years of age by 2025. Several human rights conventions recognize the importance of the right to food for a person’s life and survival. Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (ICESR) recognizes the right to adequate food and freedom from hunger as an essential part of the right to an adequate standard of living and casts an obligation on the State Parties to the Covenant to take measures to ensure production, conservation and distribution of food. Through various provisions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (ICCPR) mandates the protection of life and public health.

Beyond these human rights, the deliberate use of starvation as a method of warfare constitutes war crimes under international humanitarian law. Israel’s security-driven restrictions has obstructed most of the food and water aid reaching Gaza residents and has been using mass starvation and collective punishment as a means to fight. Humanitarian workers are also at constant threat of attacks. The food distribution system in Gaza relies on only three distribution points, which are in militarized and inaccessible areas, resulting in loss of lives while receiving the aid. Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention bestows duties on the occupying power to ensure the food and medical supplies for the population, “to the fullest extent of the means available to it.” The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and UN Security Council Resolution 2417 (2018) explicitly condemns and criminalises the intentional use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, calling it a ‘war crime’.

The pathway to recovery

The prevailing ceasefire should be immediately accompanied by unimpeded food and nutritional supplies, water, sanitation, and medical equipment to all war-affected areas, along with efforts to prevent further escalation. The United Nations and other aid agencies should be granted full access to Gaza to reach out effected children. The children need rapid mass screening, emergency therapeutic feeding for severe wasting, and supplementary feeding for moderately malnourished children. Breastfeeding mothers need nutrition and medical support. The parties to the conflict must adhere to international humanitarian laws and need to create secure humanitarian corridors and distribution points so that the aid reaches the needy. Long-term interventions may include rebuilding agriculture and markets to reinstate household food security. Safe water, hospitals, and sanitation infrastructure must be ensured. The conflicting parties must fulfill their obligations under human rights and humanitarian law regime. The whole international community should come forward to help the children of the Gaza City through funds and food supplies.

Conclusion

Food is not a luxury; it is a basic need for human survival, and to have food is the basic human right of these children. The exorbitant number of children suffering from hunger in Gaza is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a violation of children’s fundamental rights under the UNCRC and other international norms. These innocent children have no participation in war, but they have been suffering for years. It is not only a legal but a moral duty of states to protect children’s lives and health, for these children are not only the present but also the future of the world.