The Starvation Camp: Turning Hunger into a Tool of Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza

 Since the start of the "Israeli" aggression on the Gaza Strip, the tools of war have shifted from bombs to cold policies, and from direct explosions to silent abstract tools. Hunger, with all its cruelty and pain, has become a central tool in the battle.

Starvation in Gaza is no longer merely a natural consequence of a long-standing blockade or a disruption in the flow of aid, but rather a deliberate Zionist policy aimed at breaking the will of the community, undermining any resistance efforts, and creating a public consciousness trapped in hunger instead of dreaming of freedom.

In this context, the occupation is not merely seeking to destroy the resistance's capabilities, but to politically and demographically restructure Gaza through a humanitarian aid plan that appears to offer relief, but in reality, aims to dismantle the social fabric and turn basic needs into tools of blackmail and coercion.

 The occupation portrays hunger as an inevitable outcome of being ruled by the resistance.

This is not a war for land, but rather a war for dignity and the right to bread without humiliation.

The occupation has not achieved its goals through direct killing machines after more than 19 months of battles; therefore, it has moved to more dangerous and less politically costly tools: food blockade and collective starvation. From preventing aid to bombing bakeries, from besieging the north to humiliation convoys in the south, it is clear that this policy is calculated and systematic, targeting civilians primarily, not the fighting forces. This collective starvation was not an accidental incident but rather part of the "soft subjugation" strategy, where food becomes a substitute for bullets, but has a more profound impact in the long run.

In this context, the blockade turns into a complex policy; the residents are prevented from leaving or returning, the affected areas are deprived of food, and the long queues are portrayed as the result of local governance failure, rather than the "Israeli" blockade.

With each missed meal, patience erodes, dignity is crushed, and there is hope that the relationship between people and resistance will weaken.

Read also: Beneath a Veil of Aid: Witkoff Plan's Hunger for Control

Political engineering under the guise of relief!

In this context, the American plan for Gaza relief was presented as a humanitarian initiative, but it actually represents the second phase of the political-military project to subjugate Gaza.

According to the Center for Political and Development Studies, the plan is to establish central distribution points in the south, under the supervision of a private American institution that excludes "UNRWA" and replaces security contractors and American officers with international humanitarian work.

The U.S. aid initiative serves as a humanitarian façade to enforce a new order and fragment Gaza.

In the field, aid will be distributed through armored vehicles, under strict security supervision, in a scene closer to camps of humiliation than to relief operations, as the plan turns food from a human right into a tool of pressure.

From a means of rescue to a means of sorting the population and imposing geographical realities through controlling the distribution location; this means that hunger has not only been used as a means of punishment, but also as a means of unannounced forced displacement from the north to the south.

The most dangerous aspect is that this plan does not only violate morals but also international laws, foremost among them the Geneva Conventions, which criminalize the use of blockade and starvation as tools of war against civilians. However, it receives significant political and media support, promoting it as a humanitarian solution, while in reality, it is part of managing the conflict, not solving it.

In light of its inability to defeat the resistance militarily, the occupation bets on dismantling the popular support surrounding it. Here, starvation is not aimed at disarming but rather at undermining morale, creating a rift between the people and the resistance. By depriving civilians of food and portraying the resistance as obstructive, the occupation seeks to generate a sense of frustration and turn hungry mothers into political pressure tools, all without the need for a single bullet.

The more alarming aspect is that the occupation reproduces images of hunger as a natural consequence of resistance governance, ignoring that it is the one that blocks trucks, bombs distribution centers, and besieges the north. Moreover, queues are employed in psychological warfare, and famine is used as a backdrop for political smear campaigns.

Hunger is a trap for elimination.

What happened in the northern Gaza Strip is an early example of how assistance can be used as a weapon. After withdrawing some forces, the occupation allowed a partial passage of food convoys, then monitored them, targeted those who participated in them, and arrested some of the workers distributing them.

What happened in the north is a bitter experience that reveals how aid has turned into a trap.

The residents learned from that experience that flour can be a trap, and that humanitarian calls are not always genuine; they may hide drones and security data that are later used in bombings.

The accumulation of these experiences has created a new collective consciousness in Gaza, no compromising dignity for a morsel, and no humiliation under the banner of salvation. Thus, the popular rejection of the American aid plan was widespread, and voices emerged from the heart of the camps saying: "We will not starve and be humiliated at the same time.

But how do the Palestinians view the American plan? With awareness and experience, Palestinians see that the plan does not provide relief; rather, it manages an open prison, where they are instructed to line up in monitored queues, to eat at the command of an officer, and to thank the hand that besieges them for granting them a food ration. At its core, the plan is used to redefine the Nakba, not to end it, no return, no political rights, no sovereignty, just flour under the gun.

This popular perception has transformed into an advanced state of awareness, manifested in electronic campaigns and civil statements that rejected humiliating aid and called for alternatives that ensure dignity. The solution is not in halting assistance, but in liberating it from political and military control, and returning it to its natural course, as a human right that does not go through the "Israeli" gun.

In conclusion, starvation is not a matter of food; rather, it is a slow political repression aimed at reformatting Gaza from within—through geographical division, societal disintegration, psychological subjugation, and the re-engineering of people's loyalties.

Those who accept bread might accept normalization, and those who are accustomed to waiting in line might forget the street, and those who retreat in front of flour might drop the slogan. The occupation conducts a war more dangerous than any ground operation; because it is not filmed, nor is it bombed, but rather it passes through a crossing, is carried on a truck, and is signed in a closed room.

Read also: Israel's Uprooting Palestinian Plan is No Longer Hidden

The Palestinian people refuse to have their livelihood be the price for submission and surrender.

But people see, feel, reject, and scream: We are not beggars at the doors of occupation; we are rightful owners. We do not want humanitarian charity; rather, we want an end to the war, the opening of crossings, and justice in dignity, not alms in humiliation.

Hunger in Gaza is not a mere occurrence but a systematic Zionist policy that is covered by Washington and marketed by relief organizations. Humanitarian aid is nothing but a facade to facilitate a larger project: the political and geographical dismantling of Gaza. However, the Palestinian people, who have been besieged, bombed, and starved, do not compromise their dignity and refuse to accept that their livelihood is the price of submission.

  He will keep declaring plainly: We will not be humiliated twice — not by hunger, and not by bargains.

Read also: Gaza Confronts Starvation

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