The urgent call is for unconditional humanitarian access, permanent ceasefire, international accountability, and respect for international law obligations. It is necessary to have safe corridors and diplomatic intervention—principles rooted in international law and shared moral obligation.

As a fellow of the Truman National Security Project and a legal professional deeply engaged in issues of justice and foreign policy, I bring both expertise and urgency to this statement. It is clear: while condemning the October 2023 attacks by Hamas, collective punishment of civilians in Gaza is against international law and moral obligation, the blockade of food, water, fuel, and electricity is both inhumane and unlawful.

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This conflict cannot be reduced to a binary. Both antisemitism and anti-Palestinian hate must be condemned. But what is unfolding in Gaza is no longer just a tragedy—it is a government-made catastrophe.

I have close friends across multi-cultures and multi-faiths that are affected personally. We have broken bread for Eid and Shabbat together. I have spent the last 20 years working to make our country more equitable, safe, and humanist. But those values must be shared across all nations. This may sound utopian, and it may be, but we must strive for a more perfect humanity, much like we seek a more perfect union, in order to possibly reach those ideals.

While historical scale and methods differ dramatically, there is international consensus that the unfolding famine in Gaza—and the use of starvation and deprivation—should be understood through the legal and moral frameworks developed in response to genocide.

Famine Conditions and Weaponized Starvation are Affecting Palestinians

 

• At least 79 hunger deaths were recorded in a single week. 

• UN backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirms a worst-case famine scenario is unfolding today in Gaza with

• 91% of the population facing crisis-level food insecurity and 345,000 people are in the most extreme IPC Phase 5 including children 

• Mortality toll exceeds 60,000 since the October 2023 

• Nearly 90% of Gaza’s population is displaced

• Only 69 to 220 aid trucks daily enter Gaza, far short of the UN‑recommended 500–600 trucks

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Israeli groups, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, have for the first time, accused their government of committing genocide in Gaza, citing deliberate infrastructure destruction, denial of humanitarian assistance, and civilian targeting. 
 

Understanding of the inhumanity of government action and policy is NEVER a condemnation of its people, and in this specific conflict, the Jewish people or Judaism. We must not demonize or dehumanize one another as a people or a person of a nation.

 
The Holocaust’s legacy teaches that once indiscriminate mass suffering is minimized or justified as warfare, the global community becomes complicit. Today, many aid workers, survivors, and rights organizations warn that Gaza is experiencing a parallel failure of humanity towards a captive population.

From the Holocaust to Rwanda, from Bosnia to Darfur, lack of understanding in the face of systematic violence has always been a moral failure.

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We must stand with all civilians, Palestinian and Israeli, who want to live free from fear and war, under international law, and in human dignity.  

We must say ‘Never Again,’

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Brenda Lopez Romero
B.A. with a concentration in International Affairs,
J.D. with speciality certificate in National Security and Counterterrorism,
Fellow of the Truman National Security Project,
Member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.