TEHRAN — Western powers have launched a calculated charm offensive aimed at Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as global outrage intensifies over Israel’s ongoing military assault and enforced starvation of the besieged enclave.

Mass starvation is spreading rapidly throughout Gaza under Israel’s suffocating blockade. The Israeli military continues to kill Palestinian civilians, including those desperately seeking humanitarian food aid. Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians in its war on Gaza.

On Tuesday, UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told AFP that over 1,000 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces while trying to obtain food aid since late May alone—a staggering and deliberate assault on the most basic human need.

The Health Ministry in Gaza reported Wednesday that the total number of people who have starved to death has risen to more than 110, the majority of them children. Starvation, once used as a tool of ancient warfare, has now become a modern weapon in Israel’s campaign against Palestinians.

The violence has also extended to the press. Gaza’s Government Media Office confirmed Israel’s killing of two more Palestinian journalists, bringing the total number of media workers killed since October 2023 to 231—an unmistakable pattern of silencing voices that report the truth from the ground.

Global fury is boiling over. In New York City, anti-war demonstrators gathered Tuesday to demand an immediate halt to Israel’s bombardment and blockade. Their signs read: "Stop Starving Gaza Now," "Feed Gaza's Babies," and "Open the Border, End the Blockade." Protests also erupted in Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and cities across Europe and beyond, denouncing the siege and demanding an end to the West’s complicity.

In response to mounting public pressure, Western leaders have been forced to speak out. A joint statement issued by 25 countries—including Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and members of the European Union—criticized Israel's obstruction of aid delivery, calling it "dangerous," "destabilizing," and a violation of international humanitarian law. They declared: “The Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.”

But mere condemnation is meaningless in the face of Israel’s deliberate campaign of starvation and slaughter in Gaza. What is urgently required is concrete action—imposing sanctions, halting arms sales, and severing political support. Western governments that continue to issue hollow statements without taking real steps to punish Israel’s war crimes are not bystanders—they are enablers. Every moment they delay action, they deepen their complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people.