In Gaza, hunger and malnutrition are not tragic consequences of conflict. They are a weapon.
“This is starvation of children by design… All available evidence indicates that the Government of Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war… the only way we can put an end to this mass starvation is through a definitive ceasefire and re-establishment of the conditions for the humanitarian system to work at full scale and pace as it is ready to do.”
- Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa
This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a human-made catastrophe. Malnutrition and starvation are being used deliberately by the Israeli government to control, punish, and destroy the Palestinian people. Aid workers line up for food alongside those they are meant to assist. Children waste away in their mothers’ arms. Parents risk death to chase food dropped from the sky. This is not an unintended consequence of war – as Alhendawi says, it is starvation by design.
As an organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty and malnutrition, Results Canada cannot and will not remain silent. Our mission and values demand that we speak. Gaza is not an exception to the global fight against hunger, malnutrition, and the right to life. It is the frontline.
Since the beginning of Israel’s siege on Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas in October 2023 – and its full blockade of the territory since March 2025 – Israel has obstructed, delayed, and denied humanitarian aid to the civilians of Gaza. Israel’s own data shows that from March to June, it allowed in less than a quarter of the food needed to prevent famine. Meanwhile, agricultural land and infrastructure have been decimated, fishing is banned, and humanitarian access is systematically blocked or attacked. Even during brief ceasefires, aid trucks are regularly diverted, delayed, or attacked.
why it matters
The consequences of blocking humanitarian aid are devastating:
Médecins du Monde reports clear links between the Israeli government’s policies and spikes in malnutrition, especially among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza. Infants are now denied access to clean water, breast milk substitutes, and therapeutic feeding while aid warehouses remain stocked, but access is blocked. If they survive the war, the consequences of malnutrition are dire: undernourished expectant mothers are likely to become anemic and more likely to give birth to undernourished babies. Undernourished children are at risk of wasting and stunting, leading to weakened defenses against infectious diseases, impaired cognitive development, and deaths that could have been prevented.
Worse still, Palestinians are being gunned down while trying to reach food, despite the fact that civilians may not be deliberately targeted under international law. Between May and July alone, nearly 1,400 Palestinians were killed – mostly by the Israeli military – while seeking aid. Israel’s Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private and militarized entity backed by the Israeli and U.S. governments, has replaced the distribution system coordinated by the United Nations prior to Israel’s aid blockade. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has reported the GHF operations are unsafe – 1,380 of their patients have been treated for injuries sustained while trying to obtain food at GHF locations – many of them with gunshot wounds.
Canada turns back on commitments
Despite clear evidence, international response has been weak. In July, 28 countries, including Canada, signed a joint statement calling for an end to the siege. Yet at the same time, Canada continues to trade arms and military technology with Israel.
As famine deepens, our complicity grows. By continuing to allow arms transfers – directly or indirectly – Canada betrays its commitment to international humanitarian law. Furthermore, it prevents the intention of recognizing a Palestinian state and the support for a two-state solution from being meaningful.
time for action
Now is the time for action, not ambiguity. Civil society organizations are unified in their calls. On July 23, 109 agencies issued a joint plea:
Furthermore, as reminded by Oxfam: “Canada must uphold its commitment to human rights and international humanitarian law, by halting all arms transfers to Israel, directly or via third parties, and pursuing accountability for international humanitarian law violations.”
Canada must not wait for consensus among allies to uphold its principles. The starvation of civilians is a war crime. If Canada is serious about human rights, it must end its double standard: condemning with one hand while supplying arms with the other.
History will remember this moment. Let it remember Canada not for its silence or symbolic measures, but for its courage to act.
what you can do
