Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: Closed Consultations on Food Insecurity in Gaza*
On Monday morning (16 June), Security Council members will hold closed consultations under the “Protection of civilians in armed conflict” agenda item. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya is expected to brief members on food insecurity in Gaza, following the circulation of a 2 June white note on the issue by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).* The meeting was requested by Guyana and Slovenia—the Council’s co-focal points on conflict and hunger—together with Algeria. Pakistan and Somalia supported the request.
OCHA submitted the white note in accordance with resolution 2417 of 24 May 2018, which requested the Secretary-General to report swiftly when “the risk of conflict-induced famine and wide-spread food insecurity” occurs. While the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that was in effect from 19 January to 1 March helped briefly alleviate previous concerns about food insecurity in Gaza, the situation has again deteriorated since the expiry of the ceasefire and Israel’s decision in March to block the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) special snapshot—published on 12 May and covering the period between April and September—found that the entirety of Gaza’s population (approximately 2.1 million people) is expected to face “crisis” or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3), including 470,000 people projected to face “catastrophic” levels (IPC Phase 5).
On 19 May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would reopen the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow a “minimum” amount of aid to enter Gaza through existing delivery channels. According to OCHA, Israeli authorities have only permitted the entry of “very limited amounts” of certain food items, nutrition supplies, health supplies, and water purification items, the delivery of which has been impeded by access restrictions, delays in movement approvals, and shifting and insecure convoy routes, among other challenges. On Tuesday (10 June), the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that it had been able to transport approximately 700 trucks of aid to the Kerem Shalom border crossing since it reopened—enough to support less than 300,000 people for a month with minimal daily food requirements. The organisation described this as “a small fraction of what is needed for a population of 2.1 million people and far too slow to meet the overwhelming needs”.
Israel and the US have also established a new aid delivery mechanism that bypasses the existing delivery architecture run by the UN and its humanitarian partners. Alleging aid diversion by Hamas, the countries have backed a private entity called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has begun delivering aid at designated distribution sites administered by US contractors and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The UN and its partners have refused to participate in the mechanism, calling it a “militarized distribution system” that does not adhere to humanitarian principles and does not replicate the scale or accessibility of existing aid delivery channels. Since the mechanism became operational on 27 May, several security incidents involving IDF soldiers and Palestinians seeking aid at GHF sites have led to dozens of civilian casualties.
At Monday’s meeting, Msuya is expected to brief members on OCHA’s white note, which describes the humanitarian situation in Gaza as the worst since the outbreak of the war in October 2023. It details disruptions to access to humanitarian assistance, damage to essential infrastructure, the destruction of food production systems, and systematic impediments to aid delivery, stressing that “[t]hese conditions ultimately lead to starvation, illness, and death”. Referring to the 12 May IPC report, the note expresses alarm at the “significant deterioration to the already dire conditions” detected between early April and early May. It says that the likelihood of famine occurring between now and September is increasing, as key indicators of food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and mortality would surpass the IPC famine thresholds under the “reasonable worst-case scenario” of a protracted and large-scale military operation and the continuation of the aid blockade.
The note emphasises that the UN and its partners are prepared to deliver multisectoral assistance—including food, nutrition supplies, water and sanitation goods, and medical support—but have been unable to do so at the necessary scale. It adds that, despite weeks of engagement with Israeli officials, aid organisations have not received authorisation to bring in or distribute sufficient life-saving supplies through established mechanisms. The note underscores that the UN’s delivery systems, including additional safeguards against diversion, had already proven effective during the ceasefire earlier this year, reaching more than 2 million people without credible reports of systematic misuse.
The note concludes with a set of recommendations to prevent the situation in Gaza from descending into famine. It calls on the Security Council to use its influence to ensure the protection of civilians and objects necessary for food production and distribution; the facilitation of safe, rapid, unhindered, and sustained humanitarian relief operations in line with humanitarian principles; the delivery of multisectoral humanitarian aid, including nutritional support, health services, and water and sanitation; and the restoration of essential commercial supplies, services, market systems, and local food production at scale.
While emphasising that a sustained ceasefire remains the best way to achieve these goals, the note also refers to several “tools of influence” outlined in resolution 2417 that the Council could use to address conflict-induced food insecurity and ensure compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL). These include reminding parties to armed conflict of their IHL obligations; adopting sanctions against individuals or entities obstructing humanitarian assistance; and conducting full, prompt, impartial, and effective investigations into IHL violations related to the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, including the unlawful denial of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population.
On Monday, most Council members are expected to express alarm at the white note’s findings and reiterate their previous calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and the full restoration of humanitarian access. They are likely to echo concerns voiced in recent Council meetings about the catastrophic levels of food insecurity in the territory and the growing risk of famine, which some may criticise as the intentional result of deliberate Israeli policy. They may also reaffirm support for the established UN-led humanitarian delivery system, rejecting alternative mechanisms such as the GHF that militarise or politicise aid distribution, noting that such mechanisms risk undermining humanitarian principles and exacerbating civilian harm. By contrast, the US may continue to defend the GHF as a necessary response to alleged aid diversion by Hamas and maintain that the group is responsible for current humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
In light of the numerous security incidents at GHF sites, several members may call for full, prompt, and impartial investigations into violence against civilians seeking aid. They may also call on the Council to uphold its commitments under resolution 2417 and consider tools such as sanctions or other accountability measures against those obstructing humanitarian assistance or using starvation as a method of warfare. Potentially indicating greater willingness to take such a step among Council members that have traditionally been allies of Israel, the UK—along with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway—recently imposed sanctions on Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for inciting settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, a move that the countries noted in a 10 June joint statement “cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza”.
While the Council has typically received briefings on OCHA’s white notes on food insecurity in open meetings, it appears that the members requesting Monday’s consultations opted for the closed format to facilitate a franker exchange. As such, some members may take the opportunity to seek a more detailed assessment from Msuya of the main impediments to humanitarian access that the UN and its partners are currently facing, as well as her current assessment of GHF operations. Some members may also ask Msuya about the timing of the circulation of OCHA’s white note. Although dated 2 June, the note was not circulated to Council members until 4 June—after the US vetoed a draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Gaza that the Council’s ten elected members (E10) had tabled earlier that day. It seems that some members feel that it would have been useful to receive this document ahead of the vote.
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**Post-script (13 June, 3 pm EST): After the publication of this story, the meeting was pushed from Friday (13 June) to Monday (16 June), due to the scheduling of an emergency meeting on Iran on Friday afternoon. The story was amended to reflect the change in timing as well as the briefer; while Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher was expected to brief on Friday, the briefer expected for Monday is Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya.
