Hunger is often used in international and civil wars as a weapon, leading to concerns. According to multiple sources including Euronews, Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, this tactic has been used against civilians in many other wars including — but not limited to — the Rwandan civil war, the Syria war and the Yemen war. The use of hunger as a brutal weapon is employed by the warring parties and those in power to manipulate and control vulnerable populations. But this inhumane strategy has devastating consequences, not only on the physical health of individuals but also on their mental well-being and overall societal stability.
It is notable that there are legal frameworks based and other efforts to address the deadly tactic in wars. International legal frameworks including the Geneva Conventions prohibit the use of hunger as a weapon and provide mechanisms for accountability and prosecution of those who engage in such practices. But they are often broken by the parties and use hunger as a weapon. Additionally, there are international efforts to promote food security and provide humanitarian aid during wars as well as diplomatic negotiations to resolve armed conflicts and prevent the deliberate withholding or destruction of food supplies. Yet, aid efforts often face challenges during the war as involved parties often put hindrances to humanitarian aid deliveries during wars.
Diverse factors lead to the use of hunger as a war tactic. The desire to gain control over valuable resources including land or oil, the intention to cause the enemy population to submit and the interest in generating anti-government sentiment from the enemy population are notable. Among others, the desire to exert political control over civilian populations is notable. But the lack of international consensus on defining and classifying hunger as a weapon that leads to differing interpretations and inconsistent responses — along with the limited enforcement mechanisms of the Geneva Conventions and accountability measures to effectively address and prevent the use of hunger as a weapon — facilitates the use of the tactic.
Though hunger has been employed as a tactic in various conflicts throughout history, it is not as effective as is rendered by warring parties. For example, Germany failed in the Siege of Leningrad to starve the city into submission, the Soviet Union failed to fully quell the Ukrainian spirit and desire for nationalism in the 1930s and the Ethiopian government failed to achieve its intended goal by keeping people starved in the 1980s, though the inhumane tactic made the targeted population vulnerable and led to the loss of many lives. International responses, the resilience of the targeted people and other causes often play crucial roles against the tactic.
Even if the tactic of hunger may sometimes be advantageous in the war, it is definitely desired that it be ended to avert its devastating civilian impacts. For this, strengthened international efforts are crucial. The effective use of international cooperation and diplomacy with warring parties and promoting dialogue between them may help address the use of the tactic, along with peacefully resolving conflicts, many times. But responsible behaviors from warring parties are also crucial to prevent destroying infrastructure necessary for food distribution and blocking access to humanitarian aid as a deliberate tactic targeting civilians —who are mostly not involved in conflicts.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
