United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to stand firmly against the use of hunger as a weapon in conflicts.
Speaking via video at a UN conference in Ethiopia on Monday, Guterres highlighted the devastating impact of conflict and climate change on food security.
“Climate change is disrupting harvests, supply chains, and humanitarian assistance. Conflict continues to spread hunger—from Gaza to Sudan and beyond,” he said.
“Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war.”
His remarks come amid growing concern over worsening hunger in the Gaza Strip, where UN agencies warn that life-threatening food shortages are taking hold. Aid supplies have largely dried up, prompting international calls for a ceasefire to enable large-scale humanitarian relief.
Israel’s government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, strongly denies allegations that it is deliberately using hunger as a weapon. Instead, it blames aid agencies for failing to collect and distribute supplies waiting at Gaza’s border crossings.
Conditions in Gaza have deteriorated sharply after 21 months of war, compounded by a full blockade on humanitarian aid from March to May. Although some restrictions have been lifted, aid organizations report that the current flow of supplies is still far below what is needed to meet the population’s needs.
On Sunday, Israel initiated a “tactical pause” in military operations to allow aid delivery. However, the World Health Organization has warned that malnutrition in Gaza is reaching “alarming levels”.
Meanwhile, Sudan is facing what the UN describes as one of the worst—and most overlooked—humanitarian crises in the world. Since April 2023, a violent power struggle between Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has devastated the country. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced over seven million people.
“This is the largest humanitarian catastrophe facing our world—and also the least remembered,” said Othman Belbeisi, regional director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), during a press briefing last week.
