The Urgent Need to End Starvation Atrocity Crimes: Lessons from Syria to Palestine

Israel is using starvation as a war tactic in Gaza, killing aid workers, restricting aid deliveries and cutting off water and fuel. Syrians are all too familiar with the devastating crime of mass starvation, which the Syrian regime and its allies often imposed onto besieged communities. The long-term impunity that the Assad regime and other perpetrators have enjoyed for siege and starvation crimes has only emboldened Israel to push Palestinians to the brink of famine in 2024.
In this webinar moderated by Arwa Damon, former senior international correspondent for CNN, our expert speakers Nahed Samour, Mariana Karkoutly, Catriona Murdoch and Uğur Ümit Üngör lay out new evidence of the Syrian regime’s starvation of Palestinians in Yarmouk, propose pathways for states to pursue accountability, and call for an end to the ongoing starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, including by allowing the free flow of humanitarian aid.
The event starts with a recorded reading from Issam, a poet from Gaza whose poetry passionately depicts the harsh reality of the occupation.