This is the text of a speech I delivered at a demonstration in London on 11 May 2025 organised by ‘We Democracy’.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against the Israeli PM Netanyahu and the then defence minister Yoav Gallant. Among the many charges, one egregiously stood out: the war crime of starvation: already then, there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and his government have been ‘intentionally using starvation of civilians in Gaza as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies’.

We stand here over two long months since Israel imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip. The hunger and food shortage situation in the Strip is worsening. However, for Israeli ministers and members of Parliament, what we have is a Schrodinger’s starvation: they would tell you, sometimes in the same interview or Knesset hearing, that there is no starvation, it’s all fabrication; but that if there is starvation, it is Hamas’ fault for stealing supplies; and that even if it is not the result of stealing, Hamas is ultimately responsible for the outcome because it continues to hold hostages. The latest ‘creative’ explanation, comes from a UK charity, UKLFI: they claim Israel is helping tackle obesity, which was one of the biggest health issues in Gaza prior to October 7^th.

To state the obvious: hostage-taking is a vile, horrendous crime. Hamas’ behaviour is morally depraved. But there is never, ever, justification for a deliberate policy of starvation. It is never, ever, permissible to use civilians as bargaining chips, starving them in order to pressure an armed group to surrender. The fact that, in 2025, this is something that needs to be said; that, in Israel, saying it will be met with considerable hostility, shows how low we have sunk.

Since the 2nd of March, Israel’s hard-right messianic government has banned all aid from entering Gaza. This hermetic siege is by far the longest and harshest ever to be imposed on the Strip. With farmlands destroyed, the 2+ million population is almost entirely dependent on food coming from outside the strip. Most of it has run out. UN bakeries were closed a month ago due to a shortage of flour and cooking gas. Medications are also running out and clean water is in short supply.

Gaza relies on 168 community kitchens operated by the UN World Food Programme. These kitchens provide a hot meal that usually includes rice and beans or hummus. The WFP recently reported that its warehouses have emptied, and the remaining food had been transferred to the kitchens. It is unclear how long the food stored in the kitchens will last, but ten of them have closed last week and all the others have reduced the amount of food they are able to provide.

The Red Cross warned last week that ‘humanitarian efforts in Gaza are on the verge of complete collapse. Weeks of intense hostilities, combined with a complete blockade of aid for two months, have left civilians without the essentials they need to survive. Without immediate resumption of aid, they will have no access to food.’

Doctors and aid agencies reported that malnutrition-related illnesses, especially among children, are spreading in the Gaza Strip. UNICEF, reported that more than 9,000 children in the Gaza Strip have been hospitalized for acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year. It stated, and I quote: ‘hundreds of other children who desperately need treatment cannot access it due to insecurity and displacement.’

The UN Office for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs stated last week: ‘Children across Gaza, deprived of their childhood for many months, are rummaging through vast mountains of garbage in search of materials to burn for cooking. Plastic, fabrics, wood, anything that will help them survive. Facilities have been set up across the Strip that burn plastic and toxic waste to produce fuel. Clouds of black smoke rise into the Gaza sky, emitting dangerous fumes, endangering people’s lives and destroying the environment.’

Two months ago, the Israeli authorities made a deliberate decision to block all aid to Gaza. Blocking aid starves civilians. It leaves them without basic medical care. It deprives them of dignity and hope. It inflicts cruel collective punishment. Blocking aid kills. It needs to stop.

I will conclude by reading a poem written last year by Michael Rosen.

Don’t name the dead children

The people must not know the names
of the dead children.
The names of the children must be hidden.
The children must be nameless.
The children must leave this world
having no names.
No one must know the names of
the dead children.
No one must say the names of the
dead children.
No one must even think that the children
have names.
People must understand that it would be dangerous
to know the names of the children.
The people must be protected from
knowing the names of the children.
The names of the children could spread
like wildfire.
The people would not be safe if they knew
the names of the children.
Don’t name the dead children.
Don’t remember the dead children.
Don’t think of the dead children.
Don’t say: ‘dead children’.
***
But there ARE dead children in Gaza.
And they DO have names.

* Dr. Ruvi Ziegler is Associate Professor in International Refugee Law at the University of Reading. He is an Advisory Council member of Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary.