A Progressive Programme of Starvation: The Gaza Strip Blockade as the Crime against Humanity of Extermination

Abstract

The inadequacies in the law of blockade allow for its misuse. A successful blockade by itself involves devastating effects on the blockaded civilian population; however, the inadequacies in the international law on blockades can aggravate their effects. This article examines the blockade around the Gaza Strip, because it is one of the longest in existence and one of the deadliest. It analyses the operation of the blockade from an international criminal law perspective to arrive at the conclusion that the Gaza blockade is capable of constituting extermination as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.