Raas Nabeel

Legal Researcher @rsilpak | LLM in International Law @Cambridge_Uni (2022) | BA-LLB @lifeatlums (2021)

[World Health Organization (WHO) @WHO]

Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza
FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO reiterate call for immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger and malnutrition

More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released today. Famine conditions are projected to spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (@FAO), @UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Programme (@WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have collectively and consistently highlighted the extreme urgency for an immediate and full-scale humanitarian response given the escalating hunger-related deaths, rapidly worsening levels of acute malnutrition and plummeting levels of food consumption, with hundreds of thousands of people going days without anything to eat.

The agencies reinforced that famine must be stopped at all costs. An immediate ceasefire and end to the conflict is critical to allow unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives. The agencies are also gravely concerned about the threat of an intensified military offensive in Gaza City and any escalation in the conflict, as it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist. Many people – especially sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate.

By the end of September, more than 640 000 people will face Catastrophic levels of food insecurity – classified as IPC Phase 5 – across the Gaza Strip. An additional 1.14 million people in the territory will be in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and a further 396 000 people in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) conditions. Conditions in North Gaza are estimated to be as severe – or worse – than in Gaza City. However, limited data prevented an IPC classification, highlighting the urgent need for access to assess and assist. Rafah was not analyzed given indications that it is largely depopulated.

Classifying famine means that the most extreme category is triggered when three critical thresholds – extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths – have been breached. The latest analysis now affirms on the basis of reasonable evidence that these criteria have been met.

Almost two years of conflict, repeated displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access, compounded by repeated interruptions and impediments to access to food, water, medical aid, support to agriculture, livestock and fisheries and the collapse of health, sanitation, and market systems, have pushed people into starvation.

Access to food in Gaza remains severely constrained. In July, the number of households reporting very severe hunger doubled across the territory compared to May and more than tripled in Gaza City. More than one in three people (39 percent) indicated they were going days at a time without eating, and adults regularly skip meals to feed their children.

Malnutrition among children in Gaza is accelerating at a catastrophic pace. In July alone, more than 12 000 children were identified as acutely malnourished – the highest monthly figure ever recorded and a six-fold increase since the start of the year. Nearly one in four of these children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), the deadliest form with both short and long-term impacts.

Since the last @theIPCinfo Analysis in May, the number of children expected to be at severe risk of death from malnutrition by the end of June 2026 has tripled from 14 100 to 43 400. Similarly, for pregnant and breastfeeding women, the number of estimated cases has tripled from 17 000 in May to 55 000 women expected to be suffering from perilous levels of malnutrition by mid-2026. The impact is visible: one in five babies are born prematurely or underweight.

The new assessment reports the most severe deterioration since the IPC began analyzing acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, and it marks the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region.

Since July, food and aid supplies entering Gaza increased slightly but remained vastly insufficient, inconsistent and inaccessible compared to the need.
Meanwhile, approximately 98 percent of cropland in the territory is damaged or inaccessible – decimating the agriculture sector and local food production – and nine of ten people have been serially displaced from homes. Cash is critically scarce, aid operations remain severely disrupted, with most UN trucks looted amid growing desperation. Food prices are extremely high and there is not enough fuel and water to cook and medicines and medical supplies.

Gaza’s health system has severely deteriorated, access to safe drinking water and sanitation services has been drastically reduced, while multi-drug resistant infections are surging and levels of morbidity – including diarrhoea, fever, acute respiratory and skin infections – are alarmingly high among children.

To enable lifesaving humanitarian operations, the U.N. agencies emphasized the importance of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to stop the killing, allow for the safe release of hostages and permit unimpeded access for a mass influx of assistance to reach people across Gaza. They stressed the urgent need for greater amounts of food aid, along with dramatically improved delivery, distribution and accessibility, as well as shelter, fuel, cooking gas and food production inputs.

They emphasized that it is critical to support the rehabilitation of the health system, maintain and revive essential health services, including primary health care, and ensure sustained delivery of health supplies into and across Gaza. The restoration of commercial flows at scale, market systems, essential services, and local food production is also vital if the worst outcomes of the famine are to be avoided.

“People in Gaza have exhausted every possible means of survival. Hunger and malnutrition are claiming lives every day, and the destruction of cropland, livestock, greenhouses, fishery and food production systems has made the situation even more dire,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “Our priority must now be safe and sustained access for large-scale food assistance. Access to food is not a privilege – it is a basic human right.”

“Famine warnings have been clear for months,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director. “What’s urgently needed now is a surge of aid, safer conditions, and proven distribution systems to reach those most in need – wherever they are. Full humanitarian access and a ceasefire now are critical to save lives.”

“Famine is now a grim reality for children in Gaza Governorate, and a looming threat in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “As we have repeatedly warned, the signs were unmistakable: children with wasted bodies, too weak to cry or eat; babies dying from hunger and preventable disease; parents arriving at clinics with nothing left to feed their children. There is no time to lose. Without an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian access, famine will spread, and more children will die. Children on the brink of starvation need the special therapeutic feeding that UNICEF provides.”

“A ceasefire is an absolute and moral imperative now,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The world has waited too long, watching tragic and unnecessary deaths mount from this man-made famine. Widespread malnutrition means that even common and usually mild diseases like diarrhoea are becoming fatal, especially for children. The health system, run by hungry and exhausted health workers, cannot cope. Gaza must be urgently supplied with food and medicines to save lives and begin the process of reversing malnutrition. Hospitals must be protected so that they can continue treating patients. Aid blockages must end, and peace must be restored, so that healing can begin.”

[LUMS Law Alumni Association @LUMSLawAlumni]

The LLAA Fund has been established to finance the deserving students at SAHSOL.

Please follow the link, select “LUMS Law Alumni Association Fund” under the Class Fund drop down menu & donate.

https://t.co/MF7tb7Wxpn

#LUMS #Donations #SAHSOL #LawAlumni #nop #financialaid

[Adil Haque @AdHaque110]

Periodic reminder that the Rwanda Tribunal specifically listed

- subjecting a group of people to a subsistence diet
- systematic expulsion from homes and
- reduction of essential medical services below minimum requirements

as paradigmatic acts of genocide.

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

In the next blog for our Perspectives on the Indus Waters Treaty series, Maham Naweed explores the ‘fundamental change of circumstances’ rule under international law and how India has incorrectly invoked it to justify its suspension of the Treaty.

Read here: https://t.co/ssLfHguXUe

[Basheera( LQ) 🇵🇰💚 @basheerabrand3]

Two nations theory ..

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

It breaks me to submit reports that no longer detail the genocide: I ask forgiveness from victims & survivors.
Now I must focus on accountability—too many profit from Gaza’s destruction.
My June HRC report exposes private actors.
My October UNGA report will focus on States: submissions open👇
https://t.co/h0VlJCkhJt

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

On 24 April 2025, the Indian Government formally announced that it would be holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. In response to these developments, the Research Society of International Law convened an ‘Experts Group Meeting on the Legal and Strategic Implications of India’s Actions on the Indus Waters Treaty’ on 28 April 2025.

The meeting brought together distinguished experts in international law from across Pakistan, with specialised expertise in treaty law, international dispute resolution, international water and environmental law, armed conflict and counter-terrorism.

The primary objective of the meeting sought to identify and analyse the legal issues arising from India’s unilateral decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance with immediate effect.

Participants also deliberated on the broader strategic implications of this development and formulated potential legal and strategic options available to Pakistan in the prevailing environment.

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

In the first of our Perspectives on the Indus Waters Treaty blog series, @raasnabeel clarifies certain legal misconceptions about the dispute since India’s suspension of the Treaty, arguing it is unjustified under international law.

Read here: https://t.co/tM5a5pivdN

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

RSIL is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 8 of the RSIL Law Review!

This year, we have six articles, two book reviews and one case comment on a variety of subjects in the intersection of international law and domestic law. The Volume is available as an open-access resource on our website: https://t.co/kJZwW98npx.

We hope you enjoy this year's publication! We will soon be announcing a Call for Submissions for Volume 9 (2025). Hard copies will be available for purchase from January 2025.

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

We’re thrilled to share that Raas Nabeel, Research Associate at the Research Society of International Law (RSIL) Pakistan, has graduated with Cum Laude honours from the esteemed Yeosu Academy of the Law of the Sea!

Congratulations, @raasnabeel, on this remarkable achievement! 🎉

[Rami Ghayadh 𓂆 🇵🇸 @ramipalestine1]

My wife is in the final months of pregnancy, and we are in desperate need of your help to give our child the chance to receive care and a chance at life. you are our only hope. 🕊🍉
https://t.co/xpM91sIeD5

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

My new report is out - available in all UN official languages: https://t.co/FlGLzPTdhz

Genocide is a complex and insidious crime; proving destructive intent is an onerous task - yet not when it is so ostentatious, sustained by a political doctrine of ideological hatred and articulated through institutional structures and policies.

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

RSIL is seeking two skilled legal professionals for the positions of Research Associate and Senior Research Associate (Criminal Justice) to contribute to projects focused on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism.

Apply now: https://t.co/1BUZ6muZJo

[Jonathan Cook @Jonathan_K_Cook]

So what we all saw – and what Israel and the media kept telling us wasn't happening – was exactly what was happening.

But now, of course, it's too late: Gaza's health care system is gone.

[State of Palestine @Palestine_UN]

“You do not have teeth. You are not using the tools available to you to hold Israel accountable.”

[Conflict Law Centre @clc_rsil]

In this piece, Ayesha Malik looks into the redundancy of international law and what it will take to let Palestine breathe

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

Final chance to apply for the ILCC 2024: https://t.co/8sLLsHdeHr

Applications closing in less than 24 hours

Deadline: 9 August, 11:59 pm

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi is the Founder and President of the Research Society of International Law. He is also the Founder and Senior Managing Partner at ABS and Co., and an Advocate of the Supreme Court.

Apply here: https://t.co/8sLLsHcGRT

Deadline: 9 August, 11:59 PM

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

Mr. Kamran Adil will be teaching "International Law and the Criminal Justice System in Pakistan" at ILCC 2024.

Apply today: https://t.co/8sLLsHcGRT

Deadline: 9 August

[RSIL Pakistan @rsilpak]

Maha Husain will teach "Environmental Law and Climate Change" at the ILCC 2024

Apply today: https://t.co/8sLLsHdeHr

Deadline: 5 August