Urgent Appeal for Immediate Action to Confront Famine in the Gaza Strip

His Excellency Mr. António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York, United States of America

Greetings,

Subject: Urgent Appeal for Immediate Action to Confront Famine in the Gaza Strip

We address you today as the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip has reached an unprecedented level. Hundreds of thousands of families, especially children, are facing the risk of death by starvation under a comprehensive blockade and continuous bombardment for more than nine months, which has led to the complete collapse of all aspects of life.

The latest reports issued by United Nations agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), indicate the following:

• More than 1.1 million people in Gaza are suffering from acute food insecurity at Phase 5 (famine level).

• Around 500,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, with some clinically classified as suffering from "severe wasting," according to UNICEF reports.

• Deaths resulting from hunger are increasing, especially in the northern part of the Strip, with infant deaths recorded due to the lack of infant formula.

• More than 70% of farms, markets, and food storage facilities have been destroyed, and the entry of essential food and medical supplies has been prevented for many months.

What we are witnessing in Gaza is not a passing food crisis, but rather a man-made famine resulting from a systematic policy targeting civilians by using starvation as a weapon of war, in blatant violation of Article 54 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977, which prohibits "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare."

In fact, this situation can legally be classified as constituting elements of the crime of genocide, as defined by the 1948 Convention and Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, especially if there is intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, or religious group by imposing living conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction, and by preventing humanitarian aid and essential supplies.

Accordingly, we urge you, Your Excellency the Secretary-General, as the voice of the international community, to take the following urgent actions:

1.    Officially declare a state of "famine" in the Gaza Strip, based on the international standards of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

2.    Call for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to take practical steps to stop the use of starvation as a weapon and to ensure the flow of aid.

3.    Invoke Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter if the prevention of humanitarian aid continues, considering this a threat to international peace and security.

4.    Establish safe humanitarian corridors under UN supervision and ensure the continuous and regular entry of aid to all areas of Gaza without obstacles.

5.    Engage with member states to mobilize immediate support for a special humanitarian emergency fund for Gaza, to ensure the provision of food, medicine, and safe drinking water for children and families.

Your Excellency, the Secretary-General,

You have previously warned publicly that Gaza has become "hell on earth." Today, we ask you to translate these warnings into urgent international action before an entire generation of children is wiped out—not only by bombs, but by hunger.

The silence of the international community at this critical moment may be interpreted as complicity or negligence. As the guardian of the United Nations Charter, you are called upon to play a leading and practical role in saving lives and ending this moral and humanitarian catastrophe.

Please accept our highest respect,

The League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds and Palestine