Starvation as a Method of Warfare

The deliberate deprivation of a civilian population of objects indispensable to its survival, including food, drinking water and medical supplies, or the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian relief, carried out with the purpose of starving civilians as a method of combat rather than as an incidental consequence of legitimate military operations. It is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions' Additional Protocols, and an amendment adopted by the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in 2019 extended the International Criminal Court's existing war crime of starvation in international armed conflict to also apply in a non-international armed conflict, reflecting increased international attention to sieges and blockades that restrict civilian access to food and humanitarian aid.