Violations of the Right to Food in Armed Conflicts: The Case of Gaza’s Children after October 7, 2023

Abstract

The right to access adequate food is recognized as a fundamental human right under international law, particularly within the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the framework of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). However, in recent armed conflicts most notably in the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023 starvation and food blockade have been deliberately used as methods of warfare against civilians, especially children. This article adopts an analytical-descriptive approach to examine the legal dimensions of violations of the right to food during armed conflicts, focusing on the case of Gaza’s children. The findings demonstrate that Israel’s actions, under Article 54 of Additional Protocol I (1977) to the Geneva Conventions, constitute clear instances of starvation as a method of warfare, amounting to grave breaches of IHL. Consequently, such acts may be classified as war crimes and, in certain circumstances, as crimes against humanity under international criminal law.