Amnesty International has accused Israel of weaponising hunger in Gaza, using the systematic denial of food and humanitarian aid as part of what it describes as an ongoing genocidal campaign. In a searing new report, the rights group denounces the Israeli blockade and the militarisation of aid routes, where desperate Palestinians seeking food have become routine targets of deadly force.

Since May, so-called humanitarian corridors overseen by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation have witnessed daily bloodshed, with Israeli forces reportedly firing on civilians gathered at aid distribution points. Footage and eyewitness accounts paint a grim picture of civilians, many of them women and children, gunned down as they wait for flour. Over 600 people have been killed while trying to collect food, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Amnesty says these scenes are not isolated tragedies but part of a deliberate policy. "Israel is not just starving a population, it is turning survival itself into a death sentence," the report declares, accusing Israeli forces of laying a “booby trap” for families already pushed to the brink.

Despite international condemnation, hundreds of aid trucks remain stalled at Gaza’s borders, blocked by Israeli restrictions. Malnutrition and preventable diseases continue to claim the lives of children, while Western governments largely remain complicit through silence or continued military support.

As Palestinians in Gaza struggle for existence, rights defenders warn that the world’s failure to act is enabling a crime that history will not forget.