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Iran: US-Israeli 'no' vote to UN resolution suggests Gaza starvation 'premeditated'

Iran Press TV

Friday, 25 July 2025 11:33 AM

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman has suggested that the mass starvation in Gaza may be "premeditated," pointing to the United States and Israel's lone opposition to a 2021 UN resolution that bans the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

In a Friday post on X, Esmaeil Baghaei drew attention to the December 2021 vote on UN Resolution 76/166, which recognized access to food as a human right. The resolution was passed overwhelmingly by the United Nations General Assembly. Yet, only the United States and Israel voted against it.

"On 16 December 2021, only Israel & the United States voted against a landmark UN resolution 76/166 recognizing access to food as a human right," he wrote, adding, "The world stood united—the Right to Food Resolution was endorsed by the whole UN membership while these two rejected it outright."

"The resolution explicitly reaffirms the prohibition of starvation as a method of warfare under IHL. Didn't their opposition to that resolution indicate a premeditated policy of using food as a weapon of war?" Baghaei asked.

UN Resolution A/RES/76/166, titled "The Right to Food", affirms that hunger is a violation of human dignity. It urges governments to ensure food security and condemns the use of starvation in conflict, in line with international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute. The resolution was drafted with broad support from human rights-focused UN members.

The resolution stresses "the obligation of all States and parties to an armed conflict to protect civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law, and calling upon Member States, the United Nations and other relevant organizations to take further steps to provide a coordinated emergency response to the food and nutrition needs of affected populations."

Baghaei's remarks come as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate under the Israeli blockade.

According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), 25 percent of children under five and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at MSF clinics in Gaza last week were malnourished. MSF directly blamed Israel's "policy of starvation." The group also warned that severe malnutrition rates among children have tripled in just two weeks.

Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 115 Palestinians, including many children, have died from starvation since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023. Most of these deaths have occurred in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, tons of humanitarian aid remain stuck at Gaza's borders, as Israeli authorities continue to restrict entry. Limited aids are distributed at US-backed GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Fund) centers, where Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinian aid seekers and left more than 5,000 other injured in the past few months.

On Thursday alone, 19 aid seekers were killed by Israeli fire.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli attacks have killed at least 59,587 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. The ongoing aggression has leveled large swaths of Gaza, internally displacing almost all of the 2.2 million population.