-1

Multiple UN officials and experts have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinian civilians (see also statement by Volker Turk). There is mounting evidence that these horiffic accusations are true with the World Bank estimating that near half of Gaza's population, some 1.1 million people, are at acute risk of malnutrition and death. The World Bank places them in the most severe risk category - people in catastrophe.

If these accusations turn out to be true, would this constitute a war crime according to international law?

Ben Cohen
  • 3,245
  • 8
  • 41
  • 6
    A bit of a weird question. Intentionally targeting civilians is generally considered a war crime in international law, whether one targets them with bombs, guns, poison, or starvation. Do you have reason to think that starvation has a special status in that regard? – Obie 2.0 Mar 21 '24 at 00:07
  • 4
    The title and body ask 2 diff Qs, it seems to me. Anyway, this seems a pretty low effort Q given the 1st hit in google I get if I paste the title there https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule53 – the gods from engineering Mar 21 '24 at 00:23
  • 3
    @Dolphin613Motorboat - That's probably because it seems a bit like a "Did you know?" kind of question (i.e. the querent may not really be looking for an answer). There are at least three questions implied here: is it a war crime to use starvation as a weapon at all (I think it probably is not, but that's probably the most interesting question), is it a war crime to target civilians with starvation (trivially yes if one is aware that it is illegal to target civilians) and is Israel intentionally targeting civilians (I personally think they are, but there is room for different arguments there). – Obie 2.0 Mar 21 '24 at 00:28
  • 1
    Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_(crime) has an interesting point "Blockade causing starvation—including the siege of Leningrad where it killed hundreds of thousands of Soviet civilians—was deemed legal by Allied judges." International law changed after that though. – the gods from engineering Mar 21 '24 at 00:32
  • 2
    Do you really not know the answer to this question? Any way seems like a straight out dupe of https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/81667/21531 – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Mar 21 '24 at 03:11
  • 1
    This is also answered on the History SE, which also gives the date when it became a war crime. See https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/68532/when-and-why-did-it-become-frowned-upon-to-win-a-siege-by-starvation – Allure Mar 21 '24 at 03:59
  • 1
    Just edit it down to reflect the title, at its core it's actually a very good question. Also Dolphin's first comment pretty much answers it, or at least provides one answer from a decent source ....... The latter part of the question's current text, could be separate Q. I have to think it would be found in the argumentation of the current case in the ICJ, as the SA plaintiffs would cite sources for their legal theory. – Pete W Mar 21 '24 at 13:24

0 Answers0