Engineered Famine and Systemic Erasure: JVP Issues Emergency Health Alert on Gaza and the West Bank
- 小轩 李
- Aug 7
- 5 min read
By Kening Zhang | August 6, 2025
On August 2, 2025, the Health Advisory Council of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) updated a sweeping and urgent health alert warning of an ongoing, man-made catastrophe in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The report accuses Israel of systematically dismantling public health infrastructure, blocking humanitarian aid, detaining medical professionals, and using starvation as a weapon of war—all of which, the report concludes, constitute genocide.
Famine Officially Declared in Gaza
JVP cites the July 22 United Nations report, which declares that famine is already occurring in northern Gaza and Gaza City. An estimated 495,000 Palestinians are suffering from catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5), with another 1.52 million in emergency conditions and over 580,000 more facing crisis levels. The report notes that over 90% of Gaza’s population now faces severe food insecurity.
The situation is especially dire for the 320,000 children under five, with 10% already exhibiting signs of severe acute malnutrition. Between July 1 and 15, more than 5,500 young children were admitted to nutrition treatment centers, nearly 1,000 of whom were in critical condition. At least 154 people had died from hunger-related causes by July 30, including 89 children.
According to the World Food Programme, starvation is not due to a lack of food in the region but to restricted access, as Israel continues to block aid into Gaza. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that this is no longer a warning but a devastating reality, demanding that aid flow like “an ocean” and that the nightmare must end.
Healthcare Infrastructure in Collapse
The report also details the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system. Only 15% of nutrition treatment services remain operational, and essential supplies like antibiotics, IV fluids, and infant formula are nearly exhausted. Twenty-eight Palestinian doctors have been detained, including Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of the Abu Yusuf al-Najjar Hospital, who was abducted by Israeli forces from a Red Cross field hospital in Rafah.
International medical groups warn of imminent disease outbreaks due to overcrowded shelters, lack of hygiene, and non-functioning health infrastructure. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that since May, the demand for malnutrition treatment has quadrupled in northern Gaza, while rates of severe malnutrition among children under five have tripled in just two weeks. Medical staff are themselves suffering from exhaustion and hunger, struggling to continue working while their own families starve.
Militarized Aid Points Turn Into Kill Zones
The report also documents how Israeli and U.S.-backed aid points, managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), have become sites of mass violence. Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to collect food. On July 25, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians waiting near the Zikim crossing, killing 20 and injuring 300. Similar attacks occurred in Khan Younis and North Gaza on July 26, 27, 28, and 29, including one strike during an Israeli-declared “tactical pause” that killed 62 people, among them 34 unarmed civilians.
These aid points are described as militarized, chaotic, and often deadly. Many people wait for hours or even days, only to be shot, trampled, or turned away. Those most in need—women and children—frequently leave empty-handed.
Escalating Violence in the West Bank
The West Bank is also seeing an escalation in violence and displacement. Between July 22 and 30, Israeli forces and settlers killed nine Palestinians, including five children, and injured 17 more. Forty-one Palestinian homes and structures were demolished, displacing 58 people. There were 24 settler attacks recorded that displaced 17 families and destroyed essential property, including trees, homes, and water systems.
On July 28, Israeli settler Yinon Levi, who had previously been sanctioned by the EU and U.S., shot and killed 31-year-old teacher and filmmaker Awdah Hathaleen in the village of Umm al-Kheir. Despite video evidence, Levi was released without charge. Israeli authorities then detained Hathaleen’s family and refused to release his body unless they agreed not to hold a funeral. In response, over 70 women in the village launched a hunger strike.
Aid Denial and Restricted Access
The humanitarian situation is compounded by Israeli restrictions on aid access. Between July 23 and 29, only 47% of the 92 UN-coordinated aid missions were allowed to proceed; 26% were impeded and 16% denied outright. With 88% of Gaza now declared off-limits to humanitarian workers, more than 767,000 people have been pushed into overcrowded shelters with no access to sanitation or food.
UNICEF has warned it cannot reopen its 400 aid points without a lasting ceasefire. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher emphasized that a temporary pause is insufficient, and only a permanent ceasefire can prevent further humanitarian collapse.
Mounting International Accusations of Genocide
A new 88-page report by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, titled Our Genocide, concludes that Israel is deliberately creating conditions calculated to destroy Palestinian life in Gaza. This includes mass killing, inflicting physical and psychological harm, and the destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.
Medical and academic institutions are also speaking out. In the British Medical Journal, famine scholar Alex de Waal wrote that Gaza is unique among modern war zones because Israel could facilitate humanitarian aid almost instantly, but has chosen not to. He described starvation as a lifelong sentence for Gaza’s youngest survivors, arguing that they are entitled to reparations from those responsible.
Final Call to Action
In the smoldering ruins of Gaza, 18-month-old Mohammad Al-Motawaq lies motionless. His ribs protrude through skin stretched thin by famine, his eyes dulled by hunger that gnaws at his bones. He is not just a child — he is a countdown. One of 500,000 Palestinians, the UN warns, are teetering on the edge of IPC Stage 5 starvation, the final stage. There is no next. Only silence.
This is no tragedy of circumstance — it is cruelty by design. Aid is blocked, borders are sealed, and while Palestinian journalists risk and lose their lives to tell the truth, much of the world’s media still softens the blow. This is weaponized starvation. And though Mohammad cannot cry out, his frail body issues the clearest plea: How many more?
When the story of this horror is told, will we be the ones who looked away — or the ones who raised our voices? Demand the borders open. Flood inboxes. Break the silence. For Mohammad. For the children gasping in overcrowded hospitals. For every life reduced to a whisper for bread.
Their blood is on our silence. Act — before his last breath is taken, too.
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