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Gaza's Population Systematically Being Starved to Death, Speakers Warn Security Council, Demanding Immediate Ceasefire, End to Deliberate Famine

Meetings Coverage
Security Council

9987th Meeting (AM)

SC/16157
27 August 2025

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic, with the worst-case scenario of famine now officially declared and Israel using starvation as a method of war "in its starkest terms", speakers warned the Security Council today, among them the head of Save the Children International, who implored, Gaza's "children have reached their breaking point. Where is yours?"

"Today the world looks on in horror as the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory continues to deteriorate to levels not seen in recent history," said Ramiz Alakbarov, United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

Twenty-two months into the hostilities, Gaza faces "rapidly mounting civilian casualties, mass displacement, and, now, famine", he said. Moreover, hostages remain in "appalling conditions", while the West Bank is gripped by "relentless expansion of settlements, demolitions, and intensifying violence".

Since 23 July, "at least 2,553 Palestinians were killed," including 271 while trying to collect aid. Journalists are also under assault; 240 have been killed, including six during a 10 August strike. And on 25 August, an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital killed 20 civilians. "I reiterate the Secretary-General's call for an independent and impartial investigation," Mr. Alakbarov stressed.

"Ending famine is a race against time," requiring restoration of "water, sanitation, health services, and food production", he continued. Israeli steps such as limited pauses and expanded supply approvals are "nowhere near sufficient", he said, adding: "All parties must allow rapid, safe, unimpeded, and large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid".

On hostages, he said that 50 remain in captivity and their ill-treatment and abuse constitute a blatant violation of international law. Turning to the West Bank, he said that Government approvals for 3,400 housing units threaten the possibility of a viable and contiguous Palestinian State.

Over 500,000 People in Gaza Face Starvation, Destitution, Death

"On 22 August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Famine Review Committee confirmed that famine is now occurring in Gaza," Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Council.

Over half a million people currently face starvation, destitution and death," with projections of 640,000 within weeks, she added. At least 132,000 children under the age of five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition, with over 43,000 at risk of death. For pregnant and breastfeeding women, numbers are surging from 17,000 to 55,000.

"It's a created catastrophe," she went on, citing 22 months of restricted aid, destroyed cropland and decimated livestock. Overcrowding and collapsed water and sanitation systems have also "turned menstrual hygiene into a nightmare for women and girls".

International law, she reminded, "prohibits the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare". Turning to the West Bank, she echoed Mr. Alakbarov's warning that "settler violence, and discriminatory policies" threaten 18 Bedouin communities with displacement.

Emaciated Children in Gaza Clinics Lack Strength to Even Speak

"As we speak children in Gaza are systematically being starved to death," said Inger Ashing, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children International. The Gaza famine is a deliberate policy — engineered and manmade — in which Israel is using "starvation as a method of war in its starkest terms".

Clinics are "almost silent now", filled with emaciated children who "do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony", she said. Supplies lie blocked at the border — "thousands upon thousands of truckloads of lifesaving items". Increasingly, children "wish for food, for bread", and some wish "to be dead", with one child writing: "I wish I was in heaven where my mother is, in heaven there is love, there is food and water".

Ms. Ashing stressed that famine is "the predictable result of a policy of a sustained siege on food, medicine and fuel", echoing Ms. Msuya's assessment that at least 132,000 children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition — twice the number in May 2025. "This is the predictable result of obstruction", as non-governmental organizations face rejected requests and new registration rules that are "unlawful, unsafe, and incompatible with humanitarian principles". Gazan families are also now calling militarized food distribution points "the jaws of death", she said.

"Palestinian children are the only ones in the world systematically prosecuted in military courts," she pointed out. They report abuse and starvation while in custody. For almost two years, the international community has failed to protect Palestinian children — who are now at their breaking point. "Where is yours?" she asked Council members.

Released Hostage Recounts Abuse in Captivity

Ilana Gritzewsky, held in captivity in Gaza for 55 days, spoke to the Council next, saying: "I was born in Mexico to a Jewish family deeply connected to Israel". Ms. Gritzewsky had moved to Israel and lived with her partner, Matan, in Kibbutz Nir Oz. On 7 October 2023 "that life was destroyed" when "terrorists stormed our home; Matan held the door as we hid, but they broke in".

"I was dragged away, beaten, humiliated, and taken to Gaza," she recalled. For 55 days she endured captivity. "I suffered broken bones, constant abuse, starvation. We were given scraps of food while our captors ate full meals. We were moved from house to house, then to tunnels," she told Council Members. There she discovered that Matan had also been captured.

Released after several weeks, Ms. Gritzewsky said she carries deep scars. "Trauma doesn't vanish once you are released," she added.

With Matan still in Gaza, she urged the Council: Use your power to demand the unconditional release of every hostage now. "Only then can we begin to heal and believe again in the values this Council was created to uphold," she said.

Palestine Ready to Work with Global Partners on Post-Ceasefire Arrangements

The Observer for the State of Palestine said famine, now declared in Gaza City, is rapidly engulfing the entire Gaza Strip and "eating away at infants and children". He condemned the strike on Nasser Hospital as "premeditated", targeting medics and journalists who had rushed to assist after the initial attack — calling it part of a broader plan to displace the Palestinian people and seize their land.

Emphasizing that "the only path to a peaceful, stable, and secure future goes through Palestine", he reaffirmed Palestine's readiness to work with the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, and other international and regional partners to ensure post-ceasefire arrangements address all legitimate concerns in line with international law and relevant UN resolutions. "Palestine will not disappear. Israel will not disappear. No one can kill their way to peace," he concluded.

Alarm Over Famine, Israel's Expansion of Military Operations in Gaza

Amid the official declaration of famine in Gaza, many speakers sounded the alarm over Israel's expansion of military operations in the Strip.

"The famine that we have all feared is now a confirmed fact in Gaza City, and it is expected to affect more areas by September," said Denmark's delegate, urging Israel to immediately change course and allow immediate, large-scale, unobstructed multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance.

"Over 100 children in Gaza have died of malnutrition, while food is sitting at Gaza's borders," said the United Kingdom's delegate. Somalia's delegate added that "entire families are starving in full view of this Council", despite the presence of an international humanitarian system that could save them if "only they were allowed to act".

Picking up that thread, Greece's delegate noted that her country, in coordination with the European Union, Jordan, and other regional partners, had recently conducted an airdrop of food supplies over Gaza. She also welcomed the resumption of the Cyprus corridor, a critical component of the humanitarian pipeline, expressing hope it would accelerate the delivery of aid.

Condemnation of Attack on Nasser Hospital

China's delegate reiterated that "violence cannot bring security", citing the attack on Nasser Hospital as "yet another horrendous tragedy". He condemned the weaponization of humanitarian aid and the militarization of its distribution, urging Israel to fulfil its obligations as the occupying Power by opening all border crossings and fully restoring humanitarian access.

The representative of the Russian Federation concurred, noting that during the Nasser Hospital attack, "a cynical double-tap strike was used when rescue workers arrived". He further warned against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which he described as "a pseudo-humanitarian structure", pointing out that since it began operating in May 2025, 1,800 Palestinians have died while trying to obtain assistance.

The representative of Panama, Council President for the month, spoke in his national capacity to denounce the double strike at Nasser Hospital as "a dual direct affront on human dignity and international law".

France's delegate added that such operations will "in no way" ensure Israel's security", while firmly rejecting all forced displacement of civilians in Gaza.

Pattern of Targeting Medical Staff, Journalists

Numerous Council members stressed that the attack at the Nasser Hospital formed part of a repeated pattern of strikes and the incessant killing of civilians, medical staff and journalists.

With each Council's convening to address the Gaza conflict, "we are confronted with new depths of suffering", said Sierra Leone's representative. What is unfolding in Gaza, he stressed, constitutes not only a systematic pattern of atrocity crimes but also "a systematic assault on truth itself". The Secretary-General has been vilified simply for speaking the truth. The UN and its agencies have faced baseless accusations, journalists and media workers have paid with their lives in unprecedented numbers, and medical personnel have been attacked in clearly marked facilities and ambulances, with independent experts describing it as "a war on healthcare".

Guyana's delegate voiced concern over the fate of professionals in Gaza, highlighting that doctors and other medical staff lack access to Israeli visas, while many have been killed or injured in hospital attacks.

Calling for full accountability, the Republic of Korea's representative urged transparent, independent investigations into all possible violations of international humanitarian law. "A mere inquiry is not enough", he stressed, noting that "a series of investigations" has yielded "no concrete measures" since the war began.

Council Must Act, Ensure Accountability

"The suffering in Gaza has reached a level of barbarity that defies imagination," said Algeria's delegate, asking: "Will this Council persist as a theatre of lamentation, endlessly echoing speeches while Gaza burns for lack of action?"

Warning that each day of inaction risks making the Council "complicit in the suffering that continues to unfold", Slovenia's representative similarly questioned: "What military necessity can justify the killing of a journalist, a doctor, a humanitarian worker?"

Describing the deliberate destruction of civilian life in Gaza as "mass carnage", Pakistan's delegate recalled that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation recently adopted a resolution urging the Council, with "moral clarity", to act under Chapter VII to halt the aggression and violations by the Israeli occupation.

Credibility of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Report

While recognizing that "hunger is a real issue in Gaza", the United States' representative questioned the credibility of the recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report. The international community has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into Gaza over the years, while turning a blind eye to the fact that it was facilitating Hamas' creation of a terrorist stronghold. The Israel Defense Forces concluded that six Hamas members were killed when it struck the site "Hamas was using to monitor troops at the hospital", she added.

Addressing Ilana Gritzewsky, Israel's representative said: "You are the living reminder of the unbearable suffering still endured by the hostages." He noted that the recent report on sexual violence in armed conflict confirmed Hamas' use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, stressing that "survivors deserve action, not doubt" and urging the Council to blacklist Hamas and formally designate it as a terrorist organization.

On the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification's "fabricated report", he said it "lowered its own threshold to manufacture the so-called famine", employing flawed methods while disregarding broader data that did not support its findings. He further pointed out that across its 50 pages, "the word Hamas is not mentioned once".

Amid what he called "empty UN statements" and "meaningless summits", he said "you leave the real work for us", reiterating Israel's commitment to "dismantle Hamas' war machine".