It has now been more than two months since Israel began to block the entry of food and medicine to Gaza. According to the  World Food Program, about 1.94 million people across the Gaza Strip experienced high levels of acute food insecurity between 1 April and 10 May 2025, including nearly 244,000 people facing catastrophic food insecurity.

The Gaza Media Office claims 290,000 children may now be on the “ brink of death”. Twenty United Nations Human Rights council experts last week  called for measures to end the ”annihilation” of Palestinians in Gaza and said that the world had to make a “stark decision” – to “remain passive and witness the slaughter of innocents or take part in crafting a just resolution”. About 3000 trucks carrying aid from UNRWA are stuck waiting for entry to Gaza.

Starvation is a particularly  cruel and inhumane way to die. Working in humanitarian aid and development for more than 15 years, I have often felt devastated at how the world can turn a blind eye to the suffering of people in places wracked by famine or war, deemed too ”far away” to care about.

Yet what is most galling about the starvation of Gaza is the West’s complicity. It is not merely a case of ignoring a terrible crime against humanity, but also of aiding and abetting it. In the past 19 months, the US Government has provided US$17.9 billion to Israeli military operations. It is reported that since September last year, the UK has sent 8630 separate munitions to Israel, despite the announced suspension of arms........

© Pearls and Irritations