بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Famine in Gaza: UN and World Powers Responsible
News:
As of August 22, 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has officially declared famine (IPC Phase 5) in Gaza. According to the IPC, approximately 640,000 people are experiencing “catastrophic levels of food insecurity” (Phase 5), 1.14 million are in “emergency” conditions (Phase 4), and 396,000 are in “crisis” conditions (Phase 3).
Comment:
Despite the presence of numerous UN bodies—including FAO, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, and countless affiliated NGOs—these organizations have failed to mitigate what is, effectively, a modern program of ethnic extermination. With decades of experience in addressing famine worldwide, these agencies have not declared an existential crisis, nor have they effectively intervened to prevent widespread death by starvation. The international community’s reluctance to name the crime as genocide, and its tendency to attribute blame vaguely to “war conditions” or the policies of Israel’s government, demonstrates a profound moral and operational failure.
This failure is not new in history. Famines such as the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1852), the Ukrainian Holodomor (1932–1933), the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961), and numerous Indian famines (1770, 1782, 1788, 1837, 1876 and 1943) were all exacerbated by imperial powers whose policies prioritized control, profit, and power over the survival of millions. Today, Israel and the United States, along with complicit regional regimes namely Egypt, Jordan, Turkey etc, are repeating this pattern. Their actions—including limited and often harmful “aid drops”—serve to perpetuate subjugation rather than alleviate suffering.
The failure to feed the starving in Gaza is not merely a political issue; it is a fundamental humanitarian and moral obligation. As Allah (swt) reminds us in the Hadith Qudsi:
«إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَقُولُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، مَرِضْتُ فَلَمْ تَعُدْنِي. قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ كَيْفَ أَعُودُكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ؟ قَالَ: أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ عَبْدِي فُلَانًا مَرِضَ فَلَمْ تَعُدْهُ؟ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّكَ لَوْ عُدْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَنِي عِنْدَهُ. يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ: اسْتَطْعَمْتُكَ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمْنِي، قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ وَكَيْفَ أُطْعِمُكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ؟ قَالَ: أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّهُ اسْتَطْعَمَكَ عَبْدِي فُلَانٌ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمْهُ؟ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّكَ لَوْ أَطْعَمْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي. يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ: اسْتَسْقَيْتُكَ فَلَمْ تَسْقِنِي، قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ كَيْفَ أَسْقِيكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ؟ قَالَ اسْتَسْقَاكَ عَبْدِي فُلَانٌ فَلَمْ تَسْقِهِ، أَمَا إِنَّكَ لَوْ سَقَيْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي»
“Allah (mighty and sublime) will say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I fell ill and you did not visit Me. He will say: O Lord, how could I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? Allah will say: Did you not know that My servant so-and-so was ill and you did not visit him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you did not feed Me… I asked you to give Me drink and you did not give Me to drink… Had you helped My servant, you would have found that with Me.” (Muslim)
Feeding the hungry and protecting the weak is not only a moral obligation for Muslims; it is a universal standard of civilization. Turning away from those in need, while claiming to provide assistance through bureaucratic channels that fail to reach the oppressed, is a betrayal of human dignity and a denial of our own accountability before Allah (swt).
The obstacles to delivering aid to Gaza are clear: border restrictions, military blockades, and complicit regimes that enforce policies drawn decades ago under colonial mandates - lines drawn in the sand by an Englishman Sykes and a Frenchman Picot on 16th May 1916. Responsibility lies first with those rulers and soldiers controlling the borders to allow food, medical aid, and essential supplies to reach those in need. Families of those enforcing these blockades also bear moral responsibility, as do the wider Muslim and global communities that tolerate this injustice.
Allah (swt) reminds us in the Qur’an:
[قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا أَنزِلْ عَلَيْنَا مَائِدَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ تَكُونُ لَنَا عِيدًا لِّأَوَّلِنَا وَآخِرِنَا وَآيَةً مِّنكَ ۖ وَارْزُقْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ * قَالَ اللَّهُ إِنِّي مُنَزِّلُهَا عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ فَمَن يَكْفُرْ بَعْدُ مِنكُمْ فَإِنِّي أُعَذِّبُهُ عَذَابًا لَّا أُعَذِّبُهُ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ]
“Isa, son of Mary, prayed: ‘O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven a table spread with food as a feast for us—the first and last of us—and as a sign from You. Provide for us! You are indeed the Best Provider.’ Allah answered: ‘I am sending it down to you. But whoever among you denies it afterwards will face a punishment unlike any inflicted on any creation.’” [Al-Ma’idah: 114–115].
The disciples of Isa (as) sought divine intervention to deliver sustenance in a time of need. Likewise, today, the Muslim Ummah prays for relief for the people of Gaza. Yet prayers must be accompanied by action. True salvation does not lie in passive supplication alone but in mobilization to challenge the blockades and removal of these complicit regimes.
Those who fail to act while their brothers and sisters perish cannot assume they are more deserving of mercy. On the Day of Judgment, those who were promised Shahadah will testify against the inaction of those who could have made a difference. Feeding the hungry, providing refuge, and protecting the oppressed are not optional—they are obligations upon every conscience claiming to value humanity and specifically upon the rulers who have the power and ability to do so.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Ibrahim Ahmad