NYT: Israeli officers admit Gaza is on brink of starvation
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According to the New York Times, Israeli officers are privately admitting that Gaza faces a starvation crisis as aid remains blocked since March 2, while the United Nations warns famine is imminent.
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Wedad Abdelaal and her husband Ammar, feed their 9-month-old son Khaled in their tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Mawasi Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, May 2, 2025. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
In a report published by The New York Times, Israeli military officers have privately admitted that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are approaching a mass starvation crisis unless the Israeli March 2 blockade on Gaza food and fuel is lifted imminently.
Quoting three Israeli security officials, NYT stated that without a swift restoration of aid, large parts of Gaza will soon lack the basic food supplies necessary to meet minimum daily nutritional needs.
While "Israel" has publicly downplayed the humanitarian impact of its blockade, internally, its own military assessments have begun to align with the warnings raised by the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies for months.
According to The New York Times, officers monitoring Gaza's humanitarian conditions emphasized the urgency of reactivating the aid supply system, noting that logistical delays mean that any action must occur immediately to avoid starvation.
The analysis presented by the officers reveals a significant divide between the Israeli government's public narrative and its private deliberations. NYT reported that while "Israel" has insisted its blockade poses no threat to civilian well-being, military officials have acknowledged the severity of the situation in private briefings.
In one instance, an Israeli general briefed the cabinet last week, warning that existing food supplies in Gaza would be depleted within weeks. This cabinet-level assessment was also cited in an Israeli Channel 13 report.
As cited by The New York Times, the Israeli excuse behind the blockade was to weaken Hamas’s control over aid flows and thereby increase the chances of captive releases. However, the impact has primarily fallen on civilians, with skyrocketing food prices in Gaza and dwindling supply chains pushing Gaza deeper into a humanitarian catastrophe.
UN and aid agencies warn of imminent famine
The United Nations has reinforced these concerns. On Monday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed mechanism, declared that famine was imminent in Gaza. The report warned that if "Israel" proceeds with its planned military escalation, “the vast majority of people in the Gaza Strip would not have access to food, water, shelter, and medicine.”
Most bakeries have closed, charity kitchens are shutting down, and the World Food Programme has already exhausted its food stocks.
As The New York Times detailed, the Trump administration is working with "Israel" on a plan to resume limited aid distribution via private organizations at centralized hubs inside Gaza. These sites, each expected to serve hundreds of thousands of people, would be surrounded by Israeli military and patrolled internally by private security.
But the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs rejected the plan, warning it would put civilians at greater risk by forcing them to traverse longer distances through potentially dangerous zones. According to UN agencies, the proposal “drastically reduces operational reach,” shrinking the number of distribution points from 400 to just a few.
Legal experts warn of potential war crimes
Legal scholars are raising concerns that the continued restriction of aid may constitute a war crime. Janina Dill, co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, told The New York Times, “Enforcing a military blockade with the knowledge that it will starve the civilian population is a violation of international law.”
Dill added that if Israeli leaders acknowledge that the blockade is meant to force political and military concessions, “it clearly constitutes a war crime.”
Specialist officers from COGAT, the "Israeli" agency managing aid into Gaza, have privately agreed with aid groups’ assessments, confirming to The New York Times that many in the enclave are just weeks away from starvation. Their internal updates rely on real-time reports from Gaza, including humanitarian inventories, aid truck contents, and contact with residents.
