Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 24, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe UN rights office states that using food as a weapon in Gaza is a war crime, highlighting the severe humanitarian crisis faced by civilians.
GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday that the "weaponisation" of food for civilians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, in its strongest remarks yet on a new model of aid distribution run by an Israeli-backed organisation.
"Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food," Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters at a Geneva press briefing, referring to a series of deadly shootings near distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
"The weaponisation of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law," he said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Miranda Murray)
The UN human rights office stated that the 'weaponisation' of food for civilians in Gaza constitutes a war crime.
Civilians in Gaza are facing the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risking their lives to obtain food.
The weaponisation of food, along with restricting access to life-sustaining services, can constitute a war crime under certain circumstances.
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