Global food security lies in shambles as the humanitarian catastrophe unfolds in Gaza. Israel has been waging a devastating war in Gaza for two and a half years now. The massive scale of killings and devastation of the war already presents a crisis that is now further compounded by widespread hunger in Gaza. IPC describes the current situation as “worst-case scenario of famine.” This makes Gaza a thorn in ensuring global food security and exposes its vulnerabilities of the fragile food system of the world.

The right to food is considered a basic human right by most states worldwide, with the notable exception being Israel. Different UN agencies also describe it as a basic human right. The UN defines “zero hunger” as its goal under SDG 2 to achieve food security in the world by 2030. The UN and its organisations employ different strategies and policies, including helping governments to achieve this goal. The UN describes the right to food under four parameters. These are the availability, accessibility, adequacy and sustainability of food. If all of these factors are satisfied, then a region is described as hunger-free.

Food security is directly related to armed conflict in a region. Gaza is one such example where the ongoing conflict has a direct impact on the food security of the people. Under the UN described parameters, Gaza falls into a food-insecure region. Enough food having adequate nutrition is available for the people in Gaza, but it’s neither accessible nor sustainable. Israel has effectively blocked Gaza from any outside humanitarian assistance, allowing very little to pour in.

The food requirements of people in Gaza are huge as the local supply of food in annihilated due to the conflict. Israel destroyed the food system during its military campaign in Gaza. It targeted both food production and supply capacity in the strip. It destroyed the already limited agricultural production of Gaza by bombing and contaminating those lands. It used seawater to flood tunnels present underground under the pretext of forcing out Hamas fighters. This technique was ineffective militarily, but contaminated the land with salty seawater, making it non-cultivable.

The contamination of land by Israel also affected the freshwater present in the ground. Israel also annihilated the food distribution capacity of Gaza by destroying roads, bridges etc. People depend solely on foreign aid that arrives in Gaza for their nutritional needs. On Israel Israel-Egypt border, a huge supply of cargo is present, ready to be delivered to needy people, but it is subject to Israeli approval. This makes the food inaccessible to the people, thus jeopardising the accessibility element of food security.

The sustainability of the food supply for 2 million residents of Gaza is also compromised. Gaza now depends totally on supply trucks from other countries and humanitarian agencies working there. Israel deliberately limits the inflow of supplies by citing its alleged usage by Hamas fighters. This claim has very little evidence in its support. Israel is using hunger as a war tactic to break the resolve of the people of Gaza. It is considered illegal to use such a tactic in war under International Humanitarian Law. This tactic is generally used to either displace or destroy the people. Israel already showed its intent to displace Palestinians from Gaza, so one can assume the reasons for employing such tactics by Israel.

The UN World Health Organization describes the situation as “entirely preventable”. It has stressed on Israel to allow aid supplies into Gaza. Other humanitarian agencies also asked for immediate action to be taken in this regard. They stressed to the international community to pressure Israel to open a humanitarian supply corridor. The conflict has now changed from an aggression to a matter of human rights. Despite all the pressure, Israel still provides lip service and allows a very limited supply into Gaza.

Malnutrition is causing deaths, with an increasing toll every day. According to UNICEF, almost 80% of the deaths caused by malnutrition are of children. The death of children due to malnutrition proves the inability of the world to ensure the basic human right to food in a small area of Gaza, let alone the whole world.  It shows the vulnerabilities and shortcomings in the current regimes of food security. This not only demands increased efforts by the world but also reforms to achieve global food security.