How Would You Like to Die?

CrossFireArabia
Opinion
July 27, 2025

Hilal Elver

As we approach the second anniversary of the horrific and genocidal assault on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, we are witnessing Israel’s systematic disregard for international law and human rights and its weaponization of humanitarian principles. In any armed conflict, the denial of food and water constitutes a war crime under international criminal law. But the mass starvation in Gaza—which quickly evolved into a man-made famine—is unlike any other crisis in modern times.

In Gaza, not only is access to food and water deliberately obstructed, but humanitarian aid itself has become a tool of warfare—used as leverage and denied as a means of collective punishment. The visibility of this crisis, the abundance of credible evidence of war crimes, the immense suffering of civilians—above all women and children—and the impunity of powerful actors make this both a test case for the erosion of humanitarian norms and a tragic outlier in the history of international law.

The blockade and starvation of Gaza are not new. They have a long history—and a uniquely bleak future compared to other conflict-related famines. Since 2007, Gaza has been under Israeli blockade. During this period, Israel systematically calculated the minimum caloric intake required for survival—creating a so-called “Gaza Diet.”[1]

Entering the war, Israel had detailed knowledge of the population’s basic needs and made a conscious, sustained choice to deny adequate access to food and clean water for over 21 months.

Unlike other conflicts, there is no escape from the devastation in Gaza. The entire territory is a war zone, and all 2.3 million Palestinians are treated as enemies[2]—collectively punished and militarily targeted. Humanitarian convoys wait at border crossings, fully loaded, but are denied entry. Food rots within sight of starving families, often just meters away.

Due to Gaza’s specific circumstances, starvation spread rapidly—from the North to the Center and then to the South. By December 2023, with winter approaching, most homes and residential areas were destroyed. The majority of Gazans were living in tents or the ruins of buildings—without food, water, cooking facilities, heating, or sanitation. Evidence has long shown that catastrophic living conditions, a crumbling healthcare system, and severely inadequate and sporadic humanitarian aid produced mass malnutrition and imminent famine.

Deliberate targeting tactics

Israel has repeatedly denied UN and NGO reports about the use of starvation as a weapon. The US government also ignored clear warnings and overwhelming evidence. For months, most Western governments avoided using the words famine or genocide in relation to Gaza. The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)[3], the authoritative global body on famine assessments, has yet to formally declare a famine in Gaza—despite mounting evidence—due to political pressure from perpetrators. Statements by UN Special Rapporteurs, based on scientific data, and multiple interim rulings by the International Court of Justice [4] warning of the “plausibility of famine” have been disregarded. Instead, Israeli forces have responded with further attacks on aid convoys[5] and on civilians trying to collect sacks of flour.[6] These were not collateral damages; they were targeting tactics.

Day by day, the situation has gone from bad to worse—to catastrophic. On March 2, 2025, during a broken ceasefire, Israel blocked all international humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, allowing only minimal deliveries through a militarized and dehumanizing distribution system it controls. In March 2025, the blockade entered a harsher phase, marked by stricter restrictions and the militarization of aid distribution. After two months without food and water, the United States, alongside private contractors and mercenaries under Israeli military supervision, launched a long-planned entity: the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)[7].

This new structure replaced over 400 non-militarized UN distribution points with just four distribution centers—located in highly insecure areas. Humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence were completely abandoned. UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations refused to participate in this privatized, militarized, and lethally deceptive system.

Dire results were feared from the outset. More than 1,000 people have died of Israeli army sniper attacks at these sites, and more than 5,000 have been injured. People walk for hours along dangerous, dusty roads, wait under the desert sun, and are given just 11 minutes to collect 25 kilograms[8] of flour before the GHF arbitrarily closes its gates. When they exit, the ordeal often continues. Many are shot—by Israeli forces, private security, or armed groups. Gaza’s civilians are forced to choose between being killed by snipers or dying of hunger. Today, simply following the path of supposed humanitarian aid amounts to a death sentence.

Israel knows no limits in committing war crimes

On July 20, 2025, Israeli tanks and snipers attacked a 25-truck World Food Programme convoy[9] at the Zikim crossing. More than 100 Palestinians waiting for food were killed. It is a demonic inversion of humanitarianism: starvation weaponized, aid turned into bait, and civilians punished for seeking sustenance.

Famine, though still undeclared, is now undeniably present in Gaza. Why does the IPC exist if it cannot act? In recent days alone, over 100 people have died of hunger[10], including infants. Humanitarian workers and medical staff are collapsing from exhaustion and malnutrition. Every day, 10–15 people die from starvation.

Starvation is a silent death. It hides its cruelty. It is a societal torture.[11] People lose the energy to ask for help. Children stop crying. It is also one of the most painful deaths—the body consuming itself. Children suffer first, and if they survive, they are left with lifelong physical and cognitive damage. The effects of the Gaza famine will persist for generations.

Even the death toll has become a political battleground. Israel accuses Gaza’s health authorities of inflating numbers, yet respected research institutions have reported far higher estimates. In July 2024, The Lancet [12] projected over 186,000 deaths—many from indirect causes such as starvation, dehydration, and exposure. Oxfam[13] now reports that in the past 100 days, the daily death rate in Gaza is over 250—higher than in any other 21st-century conflict.

Unless there is an immediate permanent ceasefire or a meaningful intervention by the international community, Gaza will become even more of a monstrous killing field—a real-life version of The Hunger Games. What once seemed like dystopian fiction is now a horrifying reality, unfolding in plain sight.

[1] https://visualizingpalestine.org/visual/the-gaza-diet/
[2] https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/no-innocents-the-collective-blame-of-palestinians-online/
[3] https://www.ipcinfo.org
[4] https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203447
[5] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/30/israel-kills-world-central-kitchen-aid-workers-in-gaza
[6] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/03/un-experts-condemn-flour-massacre-urge-israel-end-campaign-starvation-gaza
[7] https://www.972mag.com/gaza-social-collapse-criminal-gangs/
[8] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jul/22/food-aid-gaza-deaths-visual-story-ghf-israel
[9] https://www.wfp.org/news/gaza-convoy-incident-statement
[10] https://www.ft.com/content/6899af82-1a6f-4ec6-91ba-41e7a5f0012d?utm_source=chatgpt.com
[11] https://cjil.uchicago.edu/print-archive/siege-starvation-war-crime-societal-torture
[12] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext
[13] https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam

*Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu’s editorial policy.

The author is a former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2014-2020) and a member of the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the UN Committee of World Food Security (CFS).

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Opinion

The US General Who Swallowed His Own Truth

CrossFireArabia
March 6, 2026

By Jassem Al-Azzawi

General Dan Kaine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a confidential warning to President Trump with the utmost candor—the kind of candor that democracies rely on and empires routinely ignore. He said: “We don’t have enough ammunition to win this war. It’s not going to be pretty.” This warning wasn’t born of cowardice; it was the last vestige of institutional integrity that still flickers within the halls of American military power.

Trump’s response was that of a circus clown, not a commander-in-chief. Through his “Truth Social” platform—that distorted mirror of American political life—he dismissed the warning with the arrogance of a street vendor, saying: “Oh, no, no, no. If we do it, we’ll win easily.” Thus, a sober assessment became mere publicity, and caution a lie.

But the biggest lie came later. When Kaine’s warning leaked, Trump not only rejected it but completely reversed it. With the confidence of a man who has never been held accountable for anything, he told the American public the general had said the exact opposite—that the United States had plenty of missiles, munitions, and everything else. “That’s not what he said at all,” Trump declared, putting words of false victory in the mouth of a man who had offered only warnings.

And General Cain remained silent

This silence is not just a footnote in this story; it is the story itself. By remaining silent, Cain allowed the American public to absorb the falsehood as truth. He did not say: “No, Mr. President, that’s not what I said.” He did not invoke his oath, nor the soldiers who would pay with their lives for the gap between political rhetoric and logistical reality. He chose the safety of silence over the danger of truth, and in doing so, he betrayed not only himself but the Republic. This is the rot at the heart of American militarism.

As historian Andrew Bacevich has long warned, the professional military has become more of an instrument of imperial ambition than a defender of democratic values, with senior officers more concerned with their next post than with the Constitution they swore to uphold. Kaine’s silence was not a mere slip of the tongue; it was a symptom of a deeper malaise.

The logistical picture Kaine described in private was not theoretical; the calculations were unforgiving.

Current stockpiles of interceptor missiles and precision munitions could not sustain a prolonged air campaign against a country three times the size of Iraq. The Wall Street Journal documented a “worrying gap” in U.S. missile stockpiles, noting that reserves were “far below” the requirements of intensive and sustained operations. Pentagon contractors were instructed to “double or even quadruple” production of Patriot, SM-6, and precision-strike missiles—a tacit admission that the arsenal built for Cold War scenarios is inadequate for the war being fought today.

Consider Gaza: Israel, the most heavily armed military power in the Middle East, with complete air and naval dominance, has turned a tiny coastal strip into a moon-like landscape of devastation over two and a half years, yet it has not broken Hamas. Gaza is only 37 kilometers long. Iran, on the other hand, is a nation of 90 million people, with mountainous terrain, strategic depth, fortified infrastructure, and a combat-hardened Revolutionary Guard. The idea that it will collapse under a few weeks of American airstrikes is not strategy; it is wishful thinking. “God help us if this continues, if it gets to four weeks,” Colonel Daniel Davis warned on the Deep Dive podcast. He was speaking in military terms, and the same prayer applies. Politically.

When Trump now raises the prospect of sending ground troops, he is not escalating from a position of strength, but rather improvising from a position of denial. Admitting that air power and missiles alone cannot achieve the political objective is an admission that the original objective was never honestly assessed. This is the pattern of American wars at the end of an empire: Glittering promises, disastrous calculations, and then a grim and horrific reckoning paid in blood by those who had no seat at the table where the lies were told.

The costs are already piling up—not just in the currency of munitions and riches, but in the currency that empires always ultimately spend and regret most: credibility. America’s word, already devalued by two decades of contrived justifications for war, is getting cheaper by the day.

Democracies can tolerate miscalculations, and they can tolerate bad presidents, but what they cannot long tolerate is the institutionalization of a culture where the truth is whispered behind closed doors and swallowed whole in front of cameras. When the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff allows his words to be weaponized for propaganda — when the man in charge of counting missiles refuses to correct a president who pretends they are plentiful — something far greater than military credibility collapses.

What is crumbling is the social contract between the governed and those who send them to their deaths.

Caine’s silence was not cautious; it was complicity. And in an imperial machine suffering from a shortage of ammunition and a shortage of truth, complicity is the only resource that seems inexhaustible, because when the missiles finally run out, slogans won’t replace them.

Reality will.

Al-Azzawi is an Iraqi writer who contributed this piece to Al Rai Al Youm which was translated and appeared in crossfire.com

Opinion

‘They Don’t Know Iran’s Military Lexicon’: First Six Days of The Aggression

CrossFireArabia
March 5, 2026

By Abdul Bari Atwan

They truly don’t know Iran. By this, I mean the Israelis and the US, and even some Arab leaders, none of whom dared to condemn the aggression. But the aggression entered its sixth day without the regime falling, and/or the new interim leadership rushing to the nearest negotiating table to surrender. The following factors need to be considered.

The battlefields:

First: The downing of an advanced American fighter jet, the F-15, by Iranian missiles in the west of Iran, a firstever development. This suggests the Iranian military leadership may have developed new missiles capable of achieving this feat, or they acquired them from their Chinese and Russian allies, or both, particularly the Russian S-400 and S-500 missile systems.

Second: The entry of Hezbollah’s ballistic missiles into the arena, striking deep inside Israel, specifically Tel Aviv and Haifa, for the first time after 15 months of restraint and the rebuilding of its military arsenal, and/or what was destroyed during the Israeli aggression. This means that no area in the Zionist entity will be safe.

Third: The fiery speech delivered by Sheikh Naim Qassem, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, containing strong unprecedented tone statements most notably: “We will not surrender and we will defend our land, no matter the sacrifices and despite the disparity in capabilities. We will not surrender.”

Fourth: The introduction of the fastest “infiltrating” drone into the Iranian Air Force for the first time. Named “Hadid 110,” it has a speed of 517 km/h and, according to Western military experts, is considered more efficient than its sister drone, “Shahed,” which performed well deep inside Israel. Its production costs only $35,000, while shooting it down costs $4 million.

Fifth: Every day of resistance by the Iranian army and people costs the occupying state approximately $1 billion. As for America, the costs of the war has already nearly spiralled to $160 billion in the first six days. These preliminary estimates are likely to rise, especially after the bombing of aircraft carriers and the destruction of warships, the increasing number of dead and wounded, the largest military buildup since the Iraq War, and the rise in energy prices.

Sixth: The fulfillment of the promise to close the Strait of Hormuz, which means delivering two fatal blows. The first is to the Western economy because oil and gas prices would likely reach record-breaking figures, and the second, for the Arab states who host the US military bases. Closing the Strait means preventing their oil and gas exports from reaching global markets, and the losses will increase while oil and gas revenues decrease depending on the war’s duration and developments.

The Iranians wanted from the outset a regional war of attrition with no end in sight in direct opposite to the new American warefare military doctrine, which aims for short, swift, and clean wars (without American casualties). The Iranians resolved to bomb all those cooperating with the aggression in the region. This new Iranian theory was best and most clearly expressed by Sheikh Naim Qassem when he called on the Israeli army to prepare for many days of fighting with all available means.

Defeat, surrender, and raising the white flag, individually or collectively, have no place in the Iranian military and political lexicon. In the first six days, the Iranian army launched 500 hypersonic missiles with multiple cluster warheads and more than 2,000 drones, resulting in the displacement of more than 7 million settlers to shelters and tunnels, and the destruction of large parts of Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Neither the 47-year-long starvation siege, nor three Israeli-American aggressions within a few years, nor the incitement of popular protests and the planting of spies among the protesters, nor the deployment of aircraft carriers and warships, nor inflation and the collapse of the national currency, succeeded in defeating the mighty and unwavering Iranian will, and consequently, in toppling or changing the regime.

Our proof is they baffled the Americans in negotiations that lasted more than two years in Vienna and in several other Arab and European capitals, and they never conceded. They rejected all American conditions, starting with halting enrichment and handing over 460 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, and even refusing to allow the inclusion of the Iranian missile industry or severing ties with resistance factions on the negotiating table.

Yes, arrogance, conceit, and the unfortunate complicity of some Arabs blinded them to the true nature of Iran, and they will pay a very heavy price, the most prominent feature of which will be the destruction of all Israeli gas infrastructure. In the Mediterranean, water and electricity stations, and the lack of distinction between settler and soldier, many assumptions have changed after the massacre of the children’s school in southern Iran… and time will tell.

This opinion was written in Arabic by the chief editor of Alrai Al Youm Abdul Bari Atwan and translated for crossfirearabia.com

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How Would You Like to Die?

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