New Study Reveals Hunger Used as Weapon of War with Over 20,000 Incidents Recorded

Kathmandu. A new study has shown that hunger is being used as a weapon of war in recent times. The study, conducted by 'Insecurity Insight', has recorded over 20,000 incidents of 'food-based violence' in the last eight years. These attacks include attacks on 1,261 markets where families buy daily food, and 863 incidents targeting food distribution systems, in which workers were also killed.

The study covers the period since the United Nations Resolution 2417 unanimously condemned the deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in 2018. It shows that hunger has been used as a weapon by regularly targeting food supplies in places like Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, and Haiti.

According to the data, 21,403 incidents of deliberate targeting of food supplies have been found in 15 countries since 2018. In the same year, the UN Security Council passed a resolution making it illegal to block humanitarian aid as a strategy of war.

Researchers have discovered 1,909 military attacks on arable land and 563 attacks on water infrastructure essential for crops. This has affected food security in more than 42 countries and territories.

The region with the highest number of recorded incidents is the occupied Palestinian territories, with 9,013 attacks. Yemen followed with 1,863 and Sudan with 1,605 attacks targeting the food system. One of the recent attacks in Sudan occurred on Tuesday, when a drone strike hit a crowded market, killing 28 people.

According to eyewitnesses, the main market in the city of Ghubaysh in West Kordofan appeared to be deliberately targeted by the army when it was full of civilians.

Other countries where food supplies have been repeatedly attacked include Syria, with 1,538 recorded incidents. Most of these attacks are believed to be related to government or Russian military forces before the fall of Assad's regime. 

Over 20,000 attacks on markets, arable land, and food distribution systems have been recorded since 2018.

Similarly, 1,415 attacks have been recorded in the West African country of Mali as the ruling military junta struggles to maintain its control.

This research, to be released on the anniversary of the UN resolution on Monday, indicates a 'significant increase' in attacks on markets, arable land, and food distribution systems.

Julia Conty, head of conflict and hunger monitoring at 'Action Against Hunger', said, 'The famines in Gaza and Sudan have made global headlines in the last two years, but most famines caused by conflict never make the news. Communities are under constant attack on the systems they depend on to survive. Livestock are looted, markets are bombed, and lorries carrying relief supplies are stopped.'

Researchers have also found evidence of civilians attempting to access food being repeatedly targeted. From October 2023 to the end of 2025, more than 10,300 people have been killed or injured while trying to obtain relief supplies.

Christina Wille urged the international community to implement the UN resolution, stating that the responsibility lies in 'taking action against violations'. She said, 'Resolution 2417 has not failed; member states have failed to show the necessary political will to implement it and stop these very acts that the international community claims to oppose.'

According to Wille, women are disproportionately affected when hunger is used as a weapon. 'Women, in particular, are forced to make extremely difficult decisions. Due to uncertain access to food, they have to travel long distances, which increases their risk to safety in unstable situations,' she said. 

She added, 'Women who were previously in a caregiving role for the family are now forced to become the primary breadwinners. In most cases, they have to reduce their own food intake to prioritize family members. Without enough food, children cannot play, learn, or grow, and the impact lasts a lifetime.'

War continues to be the main cause of famine, affecting more than half of the people facing severe hunger. Last month, UN bodies noted that a large proportion of global famine is concentrated in a few conflict-torn countries. Two-thirds of people facing acute food insecurity are concentrated in just 10 countries.

From The Guardian