We, public and mental health professionals and neuroscience researchers from around the world, call for international governments to pressure the Israeli government to comply with the International Justice Court's advisory opinion of 22/10/2025, asking to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza (1), and thus end the famine there. This man-made famine, according to the UN, is likely to induce dramatic long-term consequences on physical and mental health of the civilian population, in addition to the immediate deaths. While we clearly condemn all attacks on civilians on both sides, this double price paid by the Palestinian population cannot be morally nor legally acceptable as retaliation strategy.
One of the consequences civilian populations suffered in any armed conflicts is the difficulties of accessing food resources. When widespread malnutrition and hunger-related deaths are the results of these difficulties, famine ensues. The United Nations uses the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) to assess a country’s food security situation. A famine classification occurs when at least 20 percent of the population faces extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 percent, and two out of 10,000 people die from starvation on a daily basis (2). Using these criteria, the United Nations has demonstrated the existence of a “man-made” famine in Gaza.
Beyond the immediate horrors that these populations face, famine also has major long-term consequences on both physical and mental health. These repercussions are still visible decades after a famine episode. A recent study showed that people born during the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933 presented more than twice the risk of developing type-2 diabetes compared to unexposed or less exposed people born between 1930 and 1938. This increased risk is also true for the children of women pregnant during an episode of famine, once they become adults. Other epidemiological studies on famines in Ukraine in the 1930s, in Holland in the winter of 1944, and in China in the 1960s have also highlighted links with other chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and an increased risk of infection and cancer (3-4).
Effects of famines are also visible on cognitive development and mental health. Early nutritional deficiency can cause irreversible damage to the brain. Prenatal exposure to undernourishment has been shown to be associated with increased central nervous system abnormalities at birth, decreased cognitive function in adulthood, and an increased risk of developing mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression in older adults (5-6). Episodes of severe malnutrition in Barbados in the 1960s and 1970s quadrupled the frequency of attention deficit disorder diagnoses in adults 25 to 30 years later. Scientific studies also offer insights into the mechanisms of the long-term health effects of famine. For example, analysis of historical cases indicates that decreased social support, lower socioeconomic status, and insufficient intergenerational support are the main mediating factors through which the experience of famine influences levels of depression in older adults (7). These long-term mental effects of famine add to other chronic mental conditions, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), known to affect a significant proportion of war survivors following war and conflict. In 2020, it was estimated that around half of Gazan children suffered from PTSD (8). This is estimated to have worsened with the current war (9). PTSD also affects Israeli soldiers coming back from Gaza (10).
Israel’s imposition of a “man-made” famine as a weapon of war on the people of Gaza (11) therefore not only has immediate, disastrous, and deadly consequences, but also increases the odds of producing other dire outcomes in the decades to come (12). This is a double punishment inflicted to the civilian population of Gaza. Given these multiple negative impacts of famine, intentional starvation is among the inhumane acts that constitute a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (13). We therefore call on all our fellow citizens to demand that all governments exert decisive pressures on the Israeli government to immediately end this “man-made” famine, as demonstrated by the United Nations. We also call on parliamentarians in all countries to explicitly include deliberate starvation as a crime against humanity in legislation.
28 September 2025
1. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/196/196-20251022-adv-01-00-en.pdf
2. https://www.unrefugees.org/news/famine-explained-definition-causes-and-facts/
3. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008336117
4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2006.07.001
5. DOI: 10.1007/s001270050068
6. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aww132
7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20604-8
8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2023.200305
9. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/14/mental-health-palestine-children
11. Human Rights Watch, Israël : La famine utilisée comme arme de guerre à Gaza, 18 décembre 2023 ; https://aurdip.org/a-gaza-israel-utilise-la-famine-comme-arme-de-guerre/ (7 mars 2024) ; https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/230425/aide-humanitaire-pour-gaza-les-mille-et-une-entraves-israeliennes (23 avril 2025) ; https://www.amnesty.fr/conflits-armes-et-populations/actualites/hunger-games-a-gaza-ou-laide-humanitaire-mortelle (3 juillet 2025) ; https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/24/from_the_warsaw_ghetto_to_gaza (24 juillet 2025) ; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/31/the-mathematics-of-starvation-how-israel-caused-a-famine-in-gaza (31 juillet 2025) ; https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/08/22/l-onu-declare-officiellement-l-etat-de-famine-a-gaza-la-premiere-au-moyen-orient_6633496_3210.html (22 août 2025) ; https://www.rtl.be/actu/monde/international/le-conseil-de-securite-de-lonu-usa-exceptes-denonce-la-famine-gaza-cest-une/2025-08-27/article/761408 (27 août 2025)
12. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-0658.2001.00109.x