Summary
The method of warfare whose laws Debunking the Genocide Allegations expounds in Chapter 1: deliberately starving enemy forces is permissible, and a besieger who leaves evacuation open may withhold food from the besieged area, on the US and UK military manuals and Article 23 of Geneva Convention IV as the work presents them (Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War from October 7, 2023 to June 1, 2025, PDF p.55-57).
Details
- There is broad international consensus that deliberately starving civilian populations as a method of warfare is prohibited, but a siege aimed at a clear military objective is not inherently illegal; the Rule 53 passage the work quotes ends: “States denounced the use of siege warfare in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was also condemned by international organizations.” (PDF p.55); in Mosul in 2017 no arrangements were made to enable food to enter the Old City for seven months until ISIS was defeated, despite 200,000 civilians in the combat zone, and in Basra in 2003 UK forces provided aid outside the siege area but not within it (PDF p.55).
- The US Army’s combat manual is quoted: “It is lawful to besiege enemy forces, i.e., to encircle them with a view towards inducing their surrender by cutting them off from reinforcements, supplies, and communications with the outside world. In particular, it is permissible to seek to starve enemy forces into submission.” Civilian evacuation is recommended but not mandatory on the Geneva Commentary the manual quotes (PDF p.55-56). The authors add the caveat that starving enemy forces is permissible in the US and UK manuals “even if customary law interpretations might challenge the practice” (PDF p.55).
- The UK manual is quoted: “Siege is a legitimate method of warfare as long as it is directed against enemy armed forces”, and, where the offer to let civilians and the wounded and sick leave remains open, the besieging commander “would be justified in preventing any supplies from reaching that area” even if civilians decide to stay (PDF p.56).
- Article 23 of Geneva Convention IV conditions the free passage of essential foodstuffs for children under fifteen, expectant mothers and maternity cases on the Party being satisfied there are no serious reasons for fearing diversion, ineffective control, or a definite advantage accruing to the enemy; Jean Pictet’s 1958 commentary states this reservation was a condition many countries required before accepting the article (PDF p.56-57).
- Applied to northern Gaza between November 6 and November 24, 2023, withholding food is said to fall “at least within the realm of acceptable legal interpretation and actual state practice”; Israel’s Supreme Court ruling on IDF policy toward northern Gaza explicitly rejected the legal framework of occupation law (PDF p.57).
Related pages
Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War from October 7, 2023 to June 1, 2025, Human shields, Hamas, Gaza