OVER the course of 18 months, the world has seen unspeakable images come out of Gaza, but none are seared as painfully into memory as those of the children there: skeletal figures, with bloated bellies and hollow eyes.

Two months into Israel`s total blockade of humanitarian aid, Palestinian children are starving to death. Unicef has warned that over 9,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition this year alone, and hundreds more in need cannot access treatment due to displacement and insecurity.

Hospitals have run out of therapeutic food especially formulated nutrition critical to saving malnourished children.

Community kitchens are days from closure. Bakeries are shutting down, water production is falling, and market shelves are bare.

Nothing, not the pretext of war nor the failure of diplomacy, can justify this cruelty. The rationale that this pressure campaign will secure the release of Israeli hostages is an eyewash. There have been no breakthroughs since the ceasefire earlier this year. Instead, the blockade has turned Gaza into a slow-motion death camp. Human Rights Watch has previously called on Israel to cease `weaponising starvation`, noting that this too is a war crime. That call obviously fell on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, in a tragic escalation, a vessel carrying aid to Gaza was struck in international waters. Activists suspect Israeli drones. If true, this attack violates international maritime law and further underscores the lengths to which Israel will go to enforce its siege even beyond its borders. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, as an occupying power, Israel is legally bound to ensure the welfare of civilians. Instead, it is weaponising hunger, which is completely indefensible. The international community, particularly those nations supplying Israel with arms and diplomatic cover, must act. Children are not combatants. They are not bargaining chips. Every day the blockade continues, it is not just aid that is being denied -it is the very right to life.