The right to food, crimes and justice: the ‘deliberate’ starvation of the Palestinian people and the international courts as the ‘conscience of humanity’

This article aims to highlight the role of international judges in stigmatizing the crime of starvation as a ‘catastrophic’ and ‘undignified’ human rights violation that offends the collective ‘conscience’ of all humanity. To this end, the analysis begins by identifying the starvation of the Palestinian people as a ‘manmade’ catastrophe (Section 2) and then examines the potential recognition of food as a fundamental right in the international and European arenas, as well as its intrinsic link to human dignity (Section 3). The discussion then turns to the perspectives of the ICC and ICJ on individual and State responsibility for violations of the right to food in Gaza (Sections 4 and 5). The article concludes by considering the contribution of international (global) courts to the consolidation of the prosecution of intentional starvation as an international crime, and more broadly, to combating impunity for us cogens violations, affirming their role as the ‘conscience’ of humanity (Section 6).