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The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday that the famine declared in Gaza Governorate by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) was the “direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government”.
“It has unlawfully restricted the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance and other goods necessary for the survival of the civilian population in the Gaza strip,” said Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the Office.
“We have already seen deaths from starvation and malnutrition across the strip. The Israeli military has destroyed critical civilian infrastructure and almost all agricultural land, banned fishing, and forcibly displaced the population – all drivers of this famine,” he told reporters at the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva. “It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of willful killing.”
Laurence said Israeli authorities “must take immediate steps to end the famine in the Gaza Governorate and prevent further loss of life across the Gaza strip”.
“They must ensure immediate entry of humanitarian assistance in sufficient amounts, and full access to UN and other humanitarian organisations,” he said.
For more information and media requests, please contact:
Ravina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the declared famine in Gaza Governorate
TRT:
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 22 August 2025 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
- Interior shot: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The famine declared today in Gaza Governorate by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government. It has unlawfully restricted the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance and other goods necessary for the survival of the civilian population in the Gaza strip.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We have already seen deaths from starvation and malnutrition across the strip. The Israeli military has destroyed critical civilian infrastructure and almost all agricultural land, banned fishing, and forcibly displaced the population – all drivers of this famine.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of willful killing. Israeli authorities must take immediate steps to end the famine in the Gaza Governorate and prevent further loss of life across the Gaza strip. They must ensure immediate entry of humanitarian assistance in sufficient amounts, and full access to UN and other humanitarian organisations.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
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