The organization highlighted a recent analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Famine Review Committee, indicating that over 93% of Gaza's 2 million people face "acute food insecurity" at Phase 3, with more than 15%—378,000 people—at Phase 5, experiencing "extreme food shortages, hunger, and exhaustion."
B'Tselem released a paper outlining how Israel's policy results in "long lines for paltry handouts and hungry residents charging at aid trucks."
B'Tselem asserted that changing this policy is a "positive obligation under international humanitarian law," as starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited.
By February 7, the entire Gaza population is expected to reach Phase 3, and if conditions persist, there's a significant risk of declaring famine within six months.
"Such a declaration is made when 20% of households reach Phase 5, when 30% of children suffer from extreme malnutrition, and when two adults or four children out of 10,000 die of hunger every day," said the group.
Before Israel began its US-backed bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' October 7 Al-Aqsa Storm operation, about 80% of Gaza residents relied on humanitarian aid to survive.
Israel's destruction of cultivated fields, bakeries, food warehouses, and factories has meant that residents now wholly depend on food supplies from outside Gaza.
That aid is still available, B'Tselem stressed, but cannot reach people because "Israel is deliberately denying the entry of enough food to meet the population's needs."
The Israeli blockade has left residents dependent on external food supplies as Israel denies entry, with only 120 trucks allowed through Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.
B'Tselem emphasized that the little food reaching Gaza is challenging to distribute amid bombings, destroyed roads, and overcrowded shelters.
Israel's continued blockade has resulted in "children begging for food, people waiting in long lines for paltry handouts, and hungry residents charging at aid trucks," B'Tselem added. "The horror is growing by the minute, and the danger of famine is real."
Martin Griffiths, UN undersecretary general, described Israel's assault as rendering Gaza "uninhabitable," leading to a public health disaster, spreading infectious diseases, and facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded.
"For children in particular, the past 12 weeks have been traumatic: No food. No water. No school," he added. "Nothing but the terrifying sounds of war, day in and day out."
Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using starvation as a war crime, reinforcing B'Tselem's plea for allowing humanitarian aid as a positive obligation under international law.