A new report from the UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust (UKLFI) argues that the “alarming projections” of a famine were, in reality, founded on “significant errors, methodological flaws, and misrepresentations.” As a result, the charity stated that the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were based on “implausible” claims of famine.
An amicus brief was submitted to ICC judges Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, and Nicolas Guillou by UK Lawyers for Israel (“UKLFI”), B’nai B’rith UK (“BBUK”), the International Legal Forum (“ILF“), the Jerusalemites’ Initiative (“JI”) and Simon Wiesenthal Center (“SWC”). In it, the pro-Israel groups argued that “the issuance of arrest warrants would have obvious implications for the liberty not only of those identified publicly as persons whose arrest is sought but also of many other Israelis against whom arrest warrants may have been sought without public disclosure.
“Moreover, in view of the total inaccuracy of the grounds on which arrest warrants have been sought against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, according to the summary in the Prosecutor’s public statement, Israelis cannot assume that their innocence will avoid the risk of arrest under warrants issued on the basis of false information.”
The claim of an imminent famine in Gaza was a key element in the ICC arrest warrant issued last year against Netanyahu and Gallant. In outlining the reasons for the warrant, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan stated, “Famine is present in some areas of Gaza and is imminent in other areas.” He further accused Netanyahu and Gallant of being part of a “common plan to use starvation as a method of war.”
The statement regarding imminent famine was partly based on reports from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net), an organization created by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to monitor global food insecurity. FEWS Net has since gone offline following President Trump’s freezing of USAID activities.
The UKLFI report critiques FEWS Net’s findings, emphasizing that the term “famine” is a scientific classification grounded in standards, evidence, and technical consensus, rather than a rhetorical or emotional term.
The technical definition of famine was established in 2004 for use in Somalia by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). According to the UKLFI report, while the humanitarian situation in Gaza is grave, the evidence does not support claims of famine or emergency as defined by the IPC.
The report concludes: “Future assessments should strive for greater accuracy and objectivity to ensure that international responses are proportionate and based on factual realities.”
Jonathan Turner, executive director of UKLFI, said: “Warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant have been issued by the ICC on the false ground that Israel deliberately used starvation as a method of war.
“UKLFI’s latest review shows that reports of famine on which the prosecutor relied were not plausible and were based on inaccurate and anomalous data regarding food supplies and malnutrition.”
“Persisting in these allegations is liable to further undermine the ICC’s reputation and to strengthen opposition to its activities.”
