Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: An Analysis of Impacts on Sustainable Development Goals

Report Summary

This report analyzes the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with a specific focus on its devastating impact on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on firsthand accounts from medical professionals, the report documents a systematic breakdown of essential services, leading to widespread starvation and a collapse of the healthcare system. The findings indicate significant contraventions of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Violations of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being)

Catastrophic Hunger and Malnutrition

The situation in Gaza represents a severe regression of SDG 2, which aims to end hunger and ensure access to sufficient, nutritious food. The crisis is characterized by:

• Widespread, acute malnutrition, particularly among children, with numerous documented deaths of infants from starvation and dehydration.
• Deliberate deprivation of the population from food, water, and medicine, as stated by Israeli officials.
• Reports from medical personnel of families resorting to consuming boiled grass due to the complete lack of food supplies.
• The World Health Organization’s warnings of “catastrophic hunger,” confirming the dire failure to meet basic nutritional needs.

Collapse of Healthcare Infrastructure

The conflict has led to the systematic dismantling of the healthcare system, a direct violation of the principles of SDG 3, which seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all. Key observations include:

• The declaration by UNICEF that Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.
• The collapse of hospitals under relentless bombardment, rendering them non-functional.
• Medical professionals being forced to perform complex surgeries without anaesthetics or essential medical supplies.
• A preventable surge in child mortality due to wasting diseases, dehydration, and the inability to treat common illnesses.

Institutional Failures and Contravention of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)

Erosion of Justice and International Law

The crisis highlights a profound failure of global governance and the rule of law, undermining the core tenets of SDG 16. This failure is evident through:

1. The ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it is plausible Israel is committing acts of genocide, a finding that demands accountability from strong, effective institutions.
2. The continued arming of Israel by governments such as the UK, alongside the blocking of calls for a ceasefire, which has prevented the establishment of peace and justice.
3. The impunity with which actions described as war crimes and collective punishment have been carried out, weakening the framework of international law.

Media and Institutional Complicity

The role of international media and other institutions is identified as a critical factor in enabling the crisis, thereby failing the SDG 16 objective of ensuring responsive, inclusive, and representative decision-making.

• Media outlets are reported to have initially amplified official narratives that justified the collective punishment of civilians and dismissed early warnings of famine.
• Testimonies from Palestinian doctors, UN officials, and human rights experts were systematically undermined or ignored.
• Key medical and professional bodies in the UK and elsewhere remained largely silent, failing in their institutional responsibility to speak out against the targeting of healthcare facilities and the starvation of children.

Systemic Issues and the Violation of SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)

Institutional Racism as a Root Cause

The report posits that the international community’s response is deeply intertwined with systemic inequalities, a direct challenge to SDG 10. This is manifested in several ways:

• A perceived double standard in the valuation of human lives, where Palestinian children are treated as disposable.
• The demand for an impossible burden of proof from Palestinian sources, while official statements from Israeli sources were often accepted without verification.
• The argument that the crisis was entirely avoidable and its escalation was permitted because of the identity of the victims, exposing a deep-seated racism that SDG 10 aims to eliminate.

Conclusion: A Call for Accountability and Upholding the SDGs

The starvation and healthcare collapse in Gaza are not an unavoidable tragedy but the outcome of deliberate policy and systemic institutional failure. This represents a complete dereliction of the global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Recommendations

• Immediate Accountability: Uphold SDG 16 by demanding accountability from all state and non-state actors who have enabled this crisis, including governments, military bodies, and media institutions.
• Restore Basic Services: Take urgent, decisive action to restore access to food, clean water, and healthcare to meet the fundamental targets of SDG 2 and SDG 3.
• Confront Systemic Inequality: Address the racism and inequality identified as root causes of the muted global response, in line with the objectives of SDG 10.
• Recommit to International Law: Reinforce the authority of international institutions and legal frameworks to ensure that such a crisis is never repeated and that all lives are protected equally.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger

  The article’s central theme is the starvation of the civilian population in Gaza, particularly children. It repeatedly uses terms like “starving children,” “malnourished,” “famine,” “catastrophic hunger,” and people having “nothing left to eat.” This directly addresses the goal of ending hunger and ensuring access to food.

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

  The article details the devastating impact on health and well-being. It mentions “preventable child death,” the collapse of the “healthcare system,” bombing of hospitals, lack of medicine, and doctors “performing surgery without anaesthetic.” The physical suffering described, such as “emaciated infants with hollow eyes” and “infants die of dehydration and wasting,” falls squarely under this goal.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  The author explicitly argues that the crisis is rooted in systemic inequality and racism. The article questions if the same situation would be tolerated if the victims were not Palestinian (“Would this be happening if they were Israeli children? Ukrainian children? British children?”). It describes a system that “deems some lives worth mourning and others worth erasing,” highlighting a profound inequality in how human lives are valued and protected.

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

  The article discusses the context of war, bombardment, and a blockade, which are failures of peace. It calls for accountability for “war crimes” and what the International Court of Justice has ruled as “plausibly committing genocide.” Furthermore, it critiques the failure of institutions—specifically the media (“media complicity,” “played stenographer to Israel’s occupation”), government (“shielded by the British government”), and medical bodies (“stayed largely silent”)—to act accountably and transparently, thereby undermining justice.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. SDG 2: Zero Hunger

   • Target 2.1: “By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.” The article highlights the complete failure to meet this target in Gaza, describing how Israel stated its “intent to deprive Gaza of food, fuel, water and medicine.”
   • Target 2.2: “By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition…” The text provides direct evidence of this target not being met by describing “malnourished” infants, “wasting,” and children with “visible bones and distended bellies.”

2. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • Target 3.2: “By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age…” The author, a paediatrician, states, “I know what it means to see preventable child death,” and describes “babies dying in their mothers’ arms” from starvation and dehydration.
   • Target 3.8: “Achieve universal health coverage… access to quality essential health-care services and… medicines…” The article describes the opposite, with the “healthcare system collapsed,” hospitals being bombed, and a lack of basic medical supplies like “anaesthetic.”

3. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • Target 10.3: “Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory… policies and practices…” The author argues that the inaction and media narrative are a result of discriminatory practices and “institutional racism,” where “Palestinian lives… have been treated as disposable.”

4. SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

   • Target 16.1: “Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.” The article is a testament to the extreme violence and death rates resulting from “bombardment” and a “deliberate campaign” of starvation.
   • Target 16.2: “End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.” The deliberate starvation of children is presented as a calculated form of violence and cruelty against them.
   • Target 16.6: “Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.” The article is a critique of the failure of institutions, accusing the UK media of a lack of transparency and accountability by regurgitating “Israeli government talking points” and the government of complicity by continuing “to arm Israel.”

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Indicators for SDG 2 (Zero Hunger)

   • Prevalence of undernourishment: Implied by descriptions like “starving children,” “catastrophic hunger,” and people having “nothing left to eat.”
   • Prevalence of malnutrition (wasting): Directly mentioned through the terms “malnourished 40-day-old son,” infants dying of “wasting,” and the visual of “emaciated infants.”

2. Indicators for SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being)

   • Under-5 mortality rate / Neonatal mortality rate: Implied by the phrases “preventable child death,” “babies dying in their mothers’ arms,” and “infants die of dehydration.”
   • Health worker density and distribution: The collapse of the healthcare system and bombing of hospitals implies a catastrophic reduction in this indicator. The mention of “Palestinian medics” being silenced and unable to work effectively supports this.
   • Coverage of essential health services: The article implies a near-total lack of coverage with statements about the “healthcare system collapsed” and the inability to perform surgery with anaesthetics.

3. Indicators for SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)

   • Proportion of population reporting discrimination: The author’s entire argument is a report on discrimination, citing the “racism” that devalues Palestinian lives and leads to international inaction.

4. Indicators for SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)

   • Number of civilian deaths in armed conflict: The article directly refers to children dying from starvation as a direct consequence of the conflict and blockade.
   • Public trust in institutions: The article implies extremely low public trust in media and government due to their alleged bias and complicity, citing how they “undermined the testimonies of Palestinian doctors, UN officials, human rights experts.”

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: middleeasteye.net