Report Finds Famine in Gaza and Warns of Spreading Hunger | Palestine Policy Roundup 08.25.25
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “After supplying the bombs to kill, wound, and displace Palestinians and eliminate every working hospital in Gaza, the Department of State is denying children visas for emergency medical care. We must end the support of Netanyahu's genocidal campaign, Block the Bombs, and ensure Palestinian children get the care they need.”
Rep. Summer Lee: “This man-made famine was preventable. Israel continues to block food, medication, and essentials to starve Palestinians. Half a million people, including children, are dying and our tax dollars are paying for it. The US must hold the Israeli government accountable. Let aid in. End the genocide now.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Let’s be clear: President Trump has the power to end the starvation of the Palestinian people. Instead he is doing nothing while watching this famine unfold. Enough is enough. No more American taxpayer dollars to Nethanyahu’s war machine.”
DC DEVELOPMENTS
✒️ 17 SENATORS CALL ON STATE DEPARTMENT TO PRESS ISRAEL TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS, ALLOW INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ACCESS INTO GAZA
17 Senators, led by Sen. Brian Schatz, wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking that he press Israel to protect Palestinian journalists in Gaza, and to allow international media to access Gaza and be allowed to report independently. The letter specifically asks Rubio to provide information on Israel’s targeting of journalists and lack of accountability for their killings by the military.
This letter follows Israel’s assassination of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al Sharif and three others while they were reporting in Gaza City. The letter highlights that Israel publicly admitted to targeting al Sharif and others in violation of international law. Israel killed the journalists in a targeted strike on their media tent near the al Shifa hospital. They were reporting on Israel’s intensified shelling of Gaza City following the Israeli cabinet’s approval of plans to invade and violently occupy the area.
Israel has killed more than 200 journalists since the start of its genocide in October 2023.
The deliberate targeting and killing of journalists is a war crime, and Israel’s apparent targeting of journalists also violates US law–specifically the Arms Export Control Act. Weapons deliveries to Israel should be immediately halted in order to comply with the law and to avoid deepening US complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
The letter also calls on Israel to allow international journalists into Gaza to independently cover its genocidal atrocities there. By targeting local Palestinian journalists and forbidding international media from working on-the-ground, Israel is clearly trying to hide the atrocities it is committing. Israel has not allowed any international journalist to independently report from Gaza since October 2023.
Today, an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital killed five journalists and fifteen other Palestinians in a so-called “double tap” strike that also targeted rescue workers who responded to the first attack. These killings further underscore the importance of this letter as Israel continues to target and kill journalists.
💥 7 SENATORS CALL FOR SANCTIONS ON ISRAELI SETTLERS COMMITTING VIOLENCE AGAINST PALESTINIANS
7 Senators, led by Sen. Ruben Gallego, called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent to investigate and sanction Israeli settlers who are accused of committing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and obstructing the delivery of aid to Gaza.
The letter accuses these settlers of committing gross violations of human rights and calls for them to be sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which was expanded by President Trump during his first term.
This letter comes at a critical moment for the West Bank. Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians more than 750 times in the first half of 2025. Israeli settlers have killed two Palestinian American citizens since July: Sayfollah Musallet, who was beaten to death by settlers; and Khamis Ayyad, who died following an arson attack by settlers.
Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist whose work contributed to the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was allegedly killed by an Israeli settler who was sanctioned by the Biden administration. Those sanctions were lifted by the Trump administration on its first day in office in January.
These attacks escalated as Israel began its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel accelerated its theft of Palestinian land in the West Bank. Last week, Israel granted approval to the E1 settlement project, which would divide the West Bank in two and isolate occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that E1’s approval is intended to advance the de facto annexation of the West Bank by Israel.
These settlers and their expansionist endeavors are fully supported by the Israeli government, including by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. They are also supported by members of the Israeli military, who often accompany them during these attacks and stand by as they commit acts of violence. The Israeli military is more likely to arrest Palestinian victims of attacks than Israeli perpetrators.
IN THE NEWS
❌ FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON RECOUNTS ISRAEL’S CEASEFIRE SABOTAGE
In a new report published by Israel’s Channel 13, former Biden administration State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller recounted several times when Israel deliberately sabotaged ceasefire negotiations by publicly disagreeing with conditions to which it had already privately agreed. Despite this, the Biden administration refused to publicly blame Israel for its sabotage and allowed for the continuance of its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
The report by Channel 13 documented seven instances in which Israel blocked a ceasefire agreement. Miller said that Israel had agreed to a partial deal that would have avoided Israel’s invasion of Rafah–which President Joe Biden had described as a “red line”. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu–who is wanted for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza–subsequently stated publicly that Israel would invade Rafah regardless of a deal.
This same pattern emerged several times, according to Miller. After approving the three-phase ceasefire proposal in May 2024–which eventually became the ceasefire deal agreed to in January 2025–Israeli officials leaked to the press that the plan laid out by President Biden in a speech was not what they agreed to. President Biden gave that speech to prevent Israel from reneging on the proposal, according to Miller
Later, Miller recalled, Israel moved the goalposts and added the demand of an Israeli military presence in the Philadelphi corridor. Miller added that he thought a deal was close until Israel presented this new condition.
Even after finally agreeing to a ceasefire in January, the Channel 13 report said that Israel avoided holding talks about moving on to the second phase of the ceasefire, and a permanent ceasefire. Israel unilaterally broke that ceasefire in March after it violently attacked Palestinians and after imposing a total blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
This report provides key insights into how the Biden administration’s failed policies further extended the timeframe for Israel to continue its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza without pushback from the US. Even now, Israel is preparing for its invasion and violent occupation of Gaza City despite Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire proposal, which largely mirrors Trump administration demands, brokered by Qatar and Egypt. This pattern of behavior further reinforces Israel’s unwillingness to cease fire in order to prolong its genocide and starvation of Palestinians.
📊 NEW POLL SHOWS MOST DEMOCRATS AGREE THAT ISRAEL IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE IN GAZA
A poll published by The Economist and YouGov continued the trend demonstrating growing support for Palestinian rights among the base of the Democratic Party. Nearly 70% of Democrats said that Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians–nearly 7 times the percentage of Democrats who say the opposite. Of all Americans, a plurality (43%) say that Israel is committing genocide.
After nearly two years of Israel’s genocide, Democrats are increasingly recognizing it as such. Democratic elected officials should be unafraid to follow the lead of the base of the party in calling it a genocide and acting accordingly by ending weapons deliveries to Israel.
As the Trump administration threatens to deepen US complicity in this genocide, 57% of Democrats say that the president has been too supportive of Israel. As Israel prepares for its campaign of ethnic cleansing of Gaza City–with the support of President Trump–Democrats were six times as likely to oppose Israel’s plan to violently occupy Gaza (66% to 11%) than to support it.
Overall, the poll also demonstrated increasing support for Palestinian rights among Democrats. 44% of Democrats now sympathize primarily with Palestinians, an increase of nine percentage points from when the same question was asked in February, and three times greater than Democratic sympathy for Israelis.
This poll contributes to the mounting evidence of growing support for Palestinian rights within the Democratic Party. Now, elected officials are beginning to take notice of this trend: last week, four more Democratic Representatives cosponsored the Block the Bombs Act. That brings the total number of new cosponsors during the August recess to 11.
As this trend continues, the Democratic Party and its elected officials should consider support for Palestinian rights an electoral asset–as demonstrated in IMEU Policy Project’s poll on Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City Democratic Party mayoral primary.
PALESTINE/ISRAEL DEVELOPMENTS
🍎 INTERNATIONAL HUNGER MONITOR CONFIRMS FAMINE OCCURRING IN GAZA
Last Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is the UN-backed global hunger monitor, confirmed that famine is occurring in northern Gaza and that it will soon spread to the rest of the area if nothing is done to stop Israel’s deliberate and manufactured starvation of Palestinians there.
The IPC found that more than 500,000 people are currently facing catastrophic hunger–the IPC’s most dire classification. While the IPC’s Phase 5, or catastrophic, level of hunger captures the inability of Palestinians to meet their basic needs, the IPC determines that famine exists when at least two of the following factors are observed: 20% of households face an extreme lack of food, 15% or 30% of children are suffering from acute malnutrition depending on how it is measured, and at least two adults or four children are indirectly killed by starvation per day.
The report found that Palestinians in and near Gaza City met all famine thresholds and noted that indirect deaths in Gaza are likely undercounted as a result of Israel’s destruction of the area’s medical facilities. It also noted that Palestinians in northern Gaza were likely facing similar or worse conditions, but that it was unable to be analyzed due to Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access there.
Across all of Gaza, more than one million Palestinians have reached the IPC’s Phase 4 level of hunger, which is characterized by households that go for long gaps of time without eating or are forced to use extreme survival methods to mitigate those lengths of time.
Overall, the IPC reported that levels of extreme hunger exceeded the famine threshold in all parts of Gaza and that malnutrition and mortality are expected to exceed the famine threshold in areas near Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September. Malnutrition rates have doubled in areas near Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis and tripled in areas near Gaza City since the IPC’s last report on Gaza was released just one month ago.
The report makes clear that this famine is man-made. It is clearly a result of Israel’s deliberate and manufactured starvation of Palestinians in Gaza achieved through the obstruction of aid. The report notes that the trickle of food that makes it into Gaza does not meet the bare minimum amount of food that Palestinians need.
On average, rations received in one month by Palestinian households only covered six days of meals. These portions are received by less than 20% of Palestinians–highlighting that hunger conditions for most Palestinians are much more dire.
Obstacles, including displacement, exorbitantly high food prices, and Israel’s weaponization of food at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, prevent Palestinians from receiving what little food is available. The report notes that safety risks, including massacres of Palestinians seeking food at GHF sites and near other aid convoys, have increased substantially and that the GHF scheme is contributing to inequitable food access.
Immediate action is desperately needed to prevent even more mass killings of Palestinians through starvation. Members of Congress have a clear avenue to respond: the obstruction of the entry of humanitarian aid by Israel is a violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which mandates a halt of weapons deliveries to countries that obstruct aid. Members of Congress must bring the US back into compliance with the law and immediately use their oversight authority to end weapons deliveries to Israel.