UN’s Famine Declaration Confirms What Palestinians Have Already Stated—Trump and Israel Are Solely Responsible for This Man-Made Catastrophe Dear Email, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) condemns the Israeli-manufactured famine ravaging Gaza, now officially recognized by the United Nations as a deadly reality. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed that famine is occurring in Gaza City and its surrounding areas, where more than half a million Palestinians are enduring catastrophic conditions marked by starvation, destitution, and death. This declaration only affirms what Palestinians and humanitarian organizations have been warning for months: Israel, with the full backing of President Donald Trump, has deliberately engineered famine as a weapon of war. As of today, at least 273 people, including 112 children, have been starved to death by Israel. The IPC warns that famine will spread to central and southern Gaza by the end of September unless the siege is ended.  “This famine is not a natural disaster—it is a man-made atrocity, imposed by Israel and the Trump administration, and it could be ended tomorrow if the blockade were lifted,” said Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, Executive Director of AJP Action. “The world must stop pretending Palestinians are dying of anything other than deliberate starvation, carried out with political intent and U.S. complicity.” International law is explicit: Article 54 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. Yet Israel continues to block food, water, medicine, and fuel while targeting Palestinians at so-called distribution points, leaving civilians to die within sight of withheld aid. President Trump’s policies, which condition humanitarian access on ceasefire negotiations and provide cover for Israeli war crimes, make him directly responsible for enabling this genocide by hunger. AJP Action calls on all members of Congress, human rights organizations, and the international community to: - Demand the immediate lifting of Israel’s blockade and allow unrestricted UN humanitarian access into Gaza.
- Hold President Trump and the Israeli government accountable for crimes against humanity and violations of international law. This includes immediately suspending all military aid to Israel, in accordance with both U.S. and international law.
- Publicly recognize that Gaza’s famine is entirely man-made and act urgently to stop it before thousands more perish.
Palestinians in Gaza are not being starved by natural disaster or circumstance, but by deliberate political design. This isn’t a temporary crisis that will simply resolve itself—the damage being done is compounding daily, pushing an entire population toward a breaking point that is already nearly irreversible. The U.S. has the power and duty to intervene and facilitate change; every day it chooses not to is another day of engineered starvation, another day of death imposed on millions.
In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action |
